The Arrow Through the Crows
by FueledByEnvy
Summary: Going to the school of the flightless crows is not all that easy when you're afraid of birds.
1. Chapter 1

**Sooooo...**

**Yeah, yeah, I've fallen into the Haikyuu fandom. I've actually had some OCs and a plot line for a fic for a while.**

**But I didn't want to be the first one to post an OC fic, so I waited.**

**But now there are two out, so I can post this now! :D**

* * *

Her hair was unruly and wavy, frizzy from the outside humidity - it looked as though she had attempted to tame the locks of red with a straightener before she'd left her house to come to this gymnasium, though, after being attacked by the mugginess of the air, her tresses had sprung back up.

Though inside now, she still wore big, bulky sunglasses, and carried an even bigger, bulkier purse on her exposed freckled shoulder. The purse was heavy and packed to the full, as if she'd taken the whole contents of her room and shoved them into the bag; when she walked, it rattled from inside, a sound of keys and chargers and make-up.

Finding the three boys she was looking for, she plopped down in a seat behind them, the sound of her purse announcing her arrival.

"I thought you weren't coming." remarked one of them, a dark-haired boy, without turning from the match taking place below.

"Well, I didn't have anything to do today, and mom wanted to take a nap, so here I am." she said, sitting her jeweled purse in her lap, beginning to dig through it, apparently searching for something, "Ugh, where is my _chapstick_-"

The youngest of the three boys turned and faced her with a loud scoff. "How could you possibly find anything in that?! What do you carry around with you, your couch?!"

She plucked a tube from the bottom of her purse, purple and just a little melted. "Tanaka, shut it! You won't be saying that later when you're hungry and want some snacks! Hey, Daichi, want some gum?"

The dark-haired boy shook his head. "I'm fine, Mayumi." he said, and she nodded, applying her chapstick, throwing it back into her bag before beginning to search for something else.

"Hey, hey, what about you, Suga?" she questioned, looking up to the third and last boy.

"Ah, no thank you, Mayumi." responded him, glancing back to her briefly, and she shrugged her shoulders, pulling out a green packet, working to pull the gum from its wrapper.

"Fine, fine. Don't say I never offered you any." she said, tossing the wrapper into her purse, standing with the smell of spearmint.

Tanaka paused for a moment before speaking, pointing a finger to Mayumi. "Are you not going to offer me any?!" he snapped, and she gave an offended noise from the back of her throat.

"Offer you _what_? A spot on the couch I have in my bag?!" she asked, laughing at her own joke, going to stand beside Sugawara, turning to watch the tournament.

Sugawara tapped the side of his own head to remind her of her bad habit, and she hesitated, reaching up to push back up sunglasses to hold up in bangs, revealing brown eyes lined in black.

As Tanaka dug through her purse to find the packet of gum, she pointed down to the gym floor. "Hey, what teams are they?" she asked, fixing a strap of the peach colored tank-top she was wearing.

"Yukigaoka and Kitagawa." Sugawara said, looking to her, and she nodded.

"Yukigaoka - ah, they seem really tiny, don't they? Aren't volleyball players supposed to be tall, Suga?" she asked, though seemed to become uninterested in the question, barely giving the boy a chance to answer before beginning to speak once again. "Awe - Kitagawa just scored a point! Well, that's hardly fair, Suga. Look at how big they are, compared to that boy on Yukigoaka."

Tanaka appeared behind her, chomping loudly on the gum he'd managed to find, working to open a bag of Cheez-Its that had also been in her purse. "You just like Yukigoaka because their Captain looks like you." he said, popping his gum as he ripped open the bag, a few crackers falling to the floor.

Mayumi frowned at that, looking back to Tanaka. "Suga, Suga, which one is the Captain?" she asked, shaking Sugawara's arm by the elbow, though it was Daichi to reply.

"That one right there. The wing spiker." he said, and Mayumi looked to Sugawara for emphasis, saying, _"Daichi, I have no idea what that is. Suga, Suga, which one?"_.

"See the one right there? Wearing the number one jersey, Mayumi." said Sugawara, pointing, and she nodded her head, her hand raising to her hair, attempting to smooth a strand out.

"I look nothing like that!" she objected with an indignant pop of her gum, and her and Tanaka continued to fight this out for most of the remainder of the match, Cheez-Its getting thrown and caught in her frizzy waves.

With the match called, Mayumi gave a pitiful look to the scoreboard, adjusting her sunglasses on her head. "Ah, that's too bad. They cared a whole lot, too, you could tell." she said with a shrug, Tanaka picking a cracker that blended in with her hair, popping it in his mouth. "I don't normally feel bad for the losers, but, did you see that small one? Rolling around in the court to try to stop the ball."

"Stop acting like that, it's weird, you little demon." said Tanaka, and she rolled her eyes, shaking her hair out for any left over Cheez-Its.

"Shut up, Tanaka."

"_'King of the Court,' _huh..." said Sugawara, and Mayumi stopped to look up to him, adjusting her sunglasses once more.

"He's going to be a difficult opponent when he starts high school." Daichi remarked, looking down to the teams lined up on the court below.

Tanaka shifted, shoving the now empty bag of Cheez-Its to the bottom of Mayumi's unattended purse. "My money's on that little guy." he said, getting shoved away from the bag by Mayumi, who picked it up and slung it over her shoulder.

Giving another glance to the court, her gum snapped out from between her lips in a bubble, and Mayumi paused for a moment before turning to catch up with the three boys who'd already walked away.

* * *

Her face was a chubby pale, as if only her body had progressed through puberty; cheeks were dusted with little brown stars known as freckles, spreading across her tiny, round nose. Her brown eyes were narrow and small, lined in black and decorated with a gray color of eye shadow, her eyelashes thick and black with mascara. Wild red hair reached just below the area of mid-back, though is was not as Rapunzel-ish as the long hair of girls' was always heard of being: her ends were split, in dire need of a trimming, her wavy locks frizzy and out of control.

She carried a bucket in one hand, dragging a mop in the other, muttering underneath her breath as she walked down the hallway - she was obviously attempting to make it appear as if she needed help carrying the bucket, for she leaned to one side as she walked, her arms heavy.

_"I hate this..." _she grumbled, loud enough for those she passed by to hear, _"Kagome harasses a first-year and _I _get blamed...!"_

She heard the fast steps of someone running through the halls behind her, and hoped it was someone coming to swoop the heavy bucket of water from her arms, though she knew it was not.

_"She just wanted to be friends with him... and he goes and _reports _us! Why wouldn't he want to become friends with an upperclassman? First-years are weird..."_

Those rushed footsteps dashed past her, and she swayed on her feet, water sloshing from the bucket she was carrying - she opened her mouth to snap at them, to tell them to come back here and clean up this puddle of water that she was _also _going to get blamed for, though paused just as the air had filled her lungs, staring after the blur of red and orange.

_"She turns me on when she ignores me!"_

"Oh, look - Mayumi, have you already gotten in trouble?" questioned Daich, the first one to spot her, smiling at her with a joking air, and she turned towards him.

"Good - we already have someone to clean the gym!" snickered Tanaka, and she was broken from her thoughts, swaying the bucket in her hands.

"Shut up, Tanaka - this will be the only time this year, I'll make sure of that!" she snapped, and the boy laughed.

"Yeah, okay - that's what you said last year!" he taunted, and her grip tightened on the mop, Sugawara working the bucket out of her hands before more water managed to spill from it.

"What did you do this time?" chuckled Daichi, and she swung the mop around in objection.

"Ah-ah-ah, I didn't do anything! Kagome was trying to talk to a first-year and recruit him for our Art club, and he went and _reported _us!" she said, her shoulders squaring, and Tanaka rolled his eyes.

"Was _recruiting _all that was going on?" asked Sugawara, holding onto the bucket for her, and Mayumi's face grew red, her freckles getting lost.

"Or were you _'taking his pictures for the yearbook'_?" asked Daichi, and Tanaka added on, "Or trying to get him to carry all you paintbrushes and crap?"

"No, no, _no_!" she said, hitting the mop onto the floor, "We just wanted to become his _friend_, but apparently making friends isn't _allowed_ at Karasuno-"

"I though Kagome was trying to recruit him, not _become his friend._" said Daichi, and Mayumi stumbled over her words, all three boys laughing at her.

"You know - I could go switch punishments with Kagome, and I could be cleaning up the choir room instead of the gym, but I thought you guys would want me-"

"Why would we want you?" interrupted Tanaka, and Daichi and Sugawara both had to cover their mouths to muffle their laughter.

"Well - whatever, then! Suga, Suga, give me that bucket, I'm going to the choir room!" she ordered, and Sugawara recovered, shaking his head.

"Ah - no, no, Mayumi, there's no need for that." he objected, not letting her take the bucket from him though she tried.

"Suga!" she protested, and, with one final tug, the bucket was yanked from his arms and fell to the floor, spilling over, splashing onto their shoes.

From down the hall, there was the echoing of a laugh that they recognized as Kagome's and the clack of heels as a teacher walked down the hall towards them, though, when Mayumi looked up to blame the three boys, they were all gone.

* * *

**It seems like all the first chapters I post are crap and are always really, really short.**

**But, yeah! This was just sort of an introduction chapter to work on Mayumi, you could say. There will be four(?) main characters that this will center on, Mayumi and Kagome included, the other two still needing to be introduced~**

**So, I hope everybody stays around for that! I didn't even mean to post this today, or ever, really, but here it is, so I hope you don't hate it!**

**(It'll get better, I promise, with a much better storyline than this chapter~)**

**I could use some feedback, if anybody wants to give it - thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's to hoping this is longer (and better) than the first chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Haikyuu!.**

* * *

She trudged down the hallway, swaying the mop and bucket around though she'd already been told not too. She was muttering underneath her breath, a mixture of curses about Kagome, for not switching her punishments, and about those _'damn volleyball boys' _for getting her not only an endless lecture but also another week of cleaning the gym.

Approaching the gym, she frowned at the two boys in front of her, blocking the door - they did not hear her over their own bickering, regardless of her complaining. She paused for a moment, waiting for them to move, and, when they did not, she swung the mop around.

"_Excuse me_!" she yelled, much louder than needed, and the boys stopped mid-sentence, turning to face her; they started, and Mayumi stared back, the boys unsure if she was scrutinizing them or just had very small, beady eyes.

When no one spoke, and no one moved out of anyone's way, freckled cheeks puffed out, copper-toned brows knitting together.

"What're you doing, standing out here?" Her voice sounded indeed very scrutinizing, as if they were lousy strays she'd found prowling through her trash.

The shorter of the pair jumped to attention, looking up to her, while the other's own eyebrows furrowed, inclining his neck downwards to look her in her tiny, narrow eyes.

Both this dark-haired boy and Mayumi popped their mouths open at the same time, though the girl beat him to the punch.

"Wait - you two are first-years, aren't you?" she questioned, and, when the smaller one gave a nervous, quick nod, she suddenly brightened up.

"Ah - _yes_! Nice to meet you, then: my name's Mayumi Hayashi, president of the art club, which would include your yearbook advisers. Are you planning on joining the art club?" she waited for no response, her words quick and well-rehearsed - when she opened her mouth, her front teeth appeared and drew the eye, bigger than the rest and bucked. "You should - it'd be great if we had some first-year representatives, too-"

_"Mayumi!"_

The two boys swiveled to the opened sliding door behind them, though Mayumi did not budge, except for perhaps the miniscule twitch in her buck-toothed smile.

"Stop trying to recruit them, demon girl, they obviously don't want to join your hipster cult!"

There was Tanaka, standing close behind Sugawara, as if expecting her to lash out with her mop and knowing Sugawara would hold her back.

However, she did not - instead, she just smiled at the smaller boy, too busy with the high of her club to bother with Tanaka at the moment.

"My Instagram," she began, sounding as if she were giving him her business card, "is Mayumi, underscore, of, underscore, the, underscore, opera. No capitalization. My Twitter and tumblr are the same, but I post mostly on Instagram. I have some yearbook photos from last year and some of my own work, as well as others in the club, so look at that if you're thinking about joining the club."

"Ugh, don't listen to her uncreative Instagram name!" snapped Tanaka from the doorway, and suddenly her artistic euphoria was gone, for her shot her head up, the mop swinging in her hands.

"Mayumi of the Opera is _not _uncreative! _You're _uncreative!" she snapped, barreling past the first-years and attempting to shove past Sugawara as well, though he held up his hands to stop her, and, for some reason, this managed to corral her back into the gym.

And, with that, the door slid shut, locking the two first-years outside once more, able to hear the yelling of, _"Do not talk to me like that, Suga, he called my Instagram name **uncreative**!"._

* * *

As Mayumi's three hours of punishment came to an end, she counted down the second, and, as she hit _sixty_, she dropped the mop to the floor for Sugawara to pick up for her, gathering her bag together and going to sit at the side of the gym. When she sat the bag down, the contents spilled out, all color pencils and different graphite level pencils and a shading pencil - _"So many _pencils_!" _Tanaka had exclaimed, while Sugawara came to help her pick them up.

Not a moment later, two girls slid open the door - the taller of the two, a girl with a strawberry blonde bob, was carrying a camera around her wrist, swinging it around, the shorter scolding her.

_"My Istagram is circle underscore you underscore circle underscore you! I follow back!" _the girl was saying as the other shut the door behind them, locking out their response.

"How was the choir room?" she asked, glancing back to Sugawara, who had picked up an eraser she'd missed.

"I swear, they purposely leave all their water bottles in one corner of the room just to be dicks." said the girl with the bob - Kagome. "But I was able to get some pictures of the choir members before they left."

The other girl, with hair the color of a chestnut, grabbed the camera from around Kagome's wrist. "You are making me _crazy_, doing that!" she said, and Kagome laughed at her, even though the girl's one had was tugging at a long strand of thin brown hair.

"Are we ready to walk home?" asked Kagome, turning to face Mayumi, and the girl shrugged, looking around for Sugawara, who had gone over towards Tanaka.

"I don't know. Hey, you ready to head home, Suga?" she asked, though he did not get any room for a response.

_"Captain!"_

Kagome turned towards the door, her thin eyebrows pushing together - they were light, just barely noticeable. "Who are those two out there, _lingering _around the door? They were making Ayane nervous." she said, and the brunette swatted at her with her hand, Kagome giggling as she went to open the door for them.

_"Let us challenge you to a match!"_

Ayane was working the camera out of the small wristlet it was carried in, attempting to be ready for any yearbook-worthy photo, while Kagome still stood at the door, looking uncomfortable but curious.

_"The two of us against you senpais!"_

Mayumi approached, shoving the laughing Tanaka out of her way to get a better look down at them, and her brow furrowed - it appeared to be a habit all of the art club had, as far as all the others could tell.

"Are these guys for real?!" Tanaka guffawed, and, for once, he did not appear to be bothered by Mayumi's presence, aside from moving her slightly to the side.

_"One-two..."_

The flash of the camera went off against the backs of the volleyball teams' elders, scaring Ayane, who jumped.

_"We'll prove that we can cooperate as a team!"_

Tanaka doubled over, almost knocking Mayumi's back from her shoulder and spilling her pencils once again.

"I heard them say one-two..." said Sugawara, Tanaka's head popping back up.

"But I can't say I dislike these guys." he said, and Mayumi took a step back, muttering something to Ayane, who nodded and took another picture of the boys' backs, much less blurry then before, no flash going off - just the tiniest of a _click_, though the familiar sound drew Kagome's eye, who stepped away from the door to them. She looked down at the picture, pointing out the wrinkles in Tanaka's back from his laughing.

"And what if you lose?"

They looked up from their discussion of if they liked the photo or not -_ 'Should there be a filter?' 'Ah, maybe a black and white one, to show the contrast?'_ - to give their attention to this conversation, though it was not theirs.

_"We'll endure any penalty!"_

"They're very seriously about _volleyball._" whispered Ayane, and the other two girls nodded.

"Why are they even standing outside, anyway?" Kagome asked, repeating her previous question, and a collected shrug was shared between Ayane and Mayumi.

_"Hmm..." _the captain thought, and Ayane looked back down to the camera, attempting to zoom in on the first-years' faces through the space between one boy's shoulder and another's. "Then now's the time - there are two other first-year applicants besides you guys. It'll be a three-on-three match against them. We always play this game every year," - this was true, for it had been in the previous year's yearbook, the photos captured mostly by Mayumi - "just to see what the new members are made of."

_"But how does it become three-on-three?"_

_Click. _Ayane managed to get the face of the shorter first-year, though only him, the others face hidden by Tanaka's shoulder.

_"Who's our other team member?"_

"Tanaka. I want you to be on Hinata's side."

Mayumi rolled her eyes, muttering, _"Oh, I'm awfully sorry, poor boys, that you have to deal with him," _while Ayane made a mental note that this first-year's name was _Hinata._

"What? Me?" Tanaka asked, and Kagome leaned over, taking the camera from Ayane's hands, working to zoom into the other first-year's face from where she stood, appearing to lose interest in this conversation, knowing that Mayumi or Ayane could easily recap it for her if need be.

"You don't dislike them, right?"

"That doesn't mean I want to play with them!"

The camera clicked, and Kagome had to cover her mouth to hold back the face she'd caught the boy making - she saved it, before attempting to get another.

"I see. I thought you'd be the only one here who could discipline these troublemakers."

Mayumi rolled her eyes once more, flicking her bangs out of her eyes - perhaps she had found interest at first, though now she was fidgeting, shifting her weight from foot to foot, swaying from side to side.

_"Oh, well, then I guess it can't be helped!"_

The camera clicked just as Tanaka raised back up, cutting off the view of the first-year, and Kagome's mouth went round in agitation.

_"I'll do it!"_

Tanaka jumped down the steps, patting one roughly on the back, and Kagome managed to get a picture of that - Mayumi leaned over to see it, and she nodded her head in approval, mouthing, _'That's nice. I want to use that for a page.'_.

_"Aren't you glad?!"_

"And, if you lose the match, as long as we third-years are here, Kageyama will never play setter."

"Well, that sounds serious." whispered Ayane; Mayumi reached across her, taking the camera from Kagome, beginning to look through the attempted pictures of Kageyama.

_"That's it?"_

"Maybe it's not that serious." Kagome said to Ayane, and the two shared shrug, the third girl being to busy with the camera to either correct or agree with them.

"That's because our team can't win with a self-centered setter. A guy who banks on his skills, but loses." said Daichi, and Ayane's mouth went into an oval - she appeared to think this was serious as well, though Kagome raised her hand in an attempt to hide her chuckling.

"What's the matter? I'm not ejecting you from the club."

Mayumi's hand fell, the camera dangling from her wrist, "Oh, my _God_, this is taking too long." she whispered, swinging the camera around before stopping, clicking her finger away on the button.

"You'd be good in other positions, too, wouldn't you?"

_"I'm a setter!"_

The clicking turned towards this boy - Kageyama - before Mayumi dropped her hand once again at the glance Sugawara had sent her way.

"Then win. You're here because you think you can win by yourself, right?"

_"I... I'm here, too!"_

Ayane took the camera from Mayumi, sliding it into its wristlet, while the other girl spun around in circles, appearing to be attempting to amuse herself.

"The game will be Saturday morning."

_"I-I'm here, too!"_

Mayumi stopped her spinning when Ayane placed a hand out to stop her, and the girl stumbled before she up-righted herself. _"Saturday," _repeated the girl to her softly, _"we'll have to be here early to make sure we get pictures. Kagome, did you hear me?"_

_"Listen up! Tanaka-senpai's gonna teach you a lesson-"  
_

When his collar was grabbed and the boy was yanked back inside, the three girls jumped back eagerly, glad to see that this conversation appeared to be over with.

_"Understood?"_

With the door slid shut by Sugawara, Mayumi began to bounce on her heels, impatient, and, when Sugawara walked right on past her, her brow furrowed in annoyance.

_"Are we being a little too hard on those guys?..."_

"That's true. You're stricter than usual, Daichi-san."

This seemed no good to calm the girl, who swung herself around, going to walk around the gym - the other two girls were unsure of what else to do aside from follow her.

"Hey, hey, I was thinking about this earlier, when I was mopping. Look here, Ayane." Mayumi pointed towards a blank section of the gym wall, pausing in her steps, and the brunette girl stepped towards the brick. "It's so empty. Maybe we could paint something here?"

Kagome laughed, "I don't think that's allowed, Mayumi. You'll probably just have to scrub it off."

"Well, no, stupid! I'd get permission first. And think about it - we could make something for the boys, like maybe..." she paused to think, looking up to the wall, and, when she did, Ayane took over.

"They'd probably want crows painted." she said, and a collected shiver past through both Mayumi and Kagome.

* * *

_"Oh, yes!"_

Hearing that, Mayumi rose her chin from her palm, giving an annoyed groan.

"I am already pissed I am _still here, _and it does not make me happier to listen to him." she said, looking towards Tanaka from her spot on the floor.

_"Morning practice is at seven A.M. tomorrow, right?"_

"What is he even doing?" questioned Kagome, and Mayumi gave an exasperated shrug of her shoulders in response.

_"Of course, but why did you ask that all of a sudden?"_

_"Oh! Uh, well..."_

"He's just a little stupid." responded Ayane, and Mayumi snorted, "Yeah, just a _little_."

"- Was the dean's wig undamaged?!"

_"Hey, stop talking about that!"_

Though it appeared to be too late, for the girl's attention was already drawn - she turned to face Tanaka, her head cocked.

"The dean's _wig_?!" laughed Kagome, "Oh, my God, how did we miss that? It would of been perfect for a yearbook page."

"Suga, Suga, what is he talking about?!" Mayumi exclaimed, looking to the other boy, "What happened with the dean's _wig_?!"

_"I was not talking to you, demon girl!"_

_"Suga, Suga, why won't you answer me?!"_

* * *

With the others heading down their opposite roads, it left only Mayumi and Sugawara - the girl appeared barely able to walk in a straight line, always wandering to the side and bumping shoulders with Sugawara, though he had seemed to grow used to it and not mind.

"How long do you have to clean the gym for dropping the bucket?" he asked as they were walking, and she hip-checked him; he was unsure if by accident or purpose.

"Um, it was not me - you let go, and so did I." she responded, looking to him, and he chuckled, "But, a week of cleaning. Thanks."

He smiled, "Anytime." he said, and, though she was expected to begin to yell, she instead smiled back.

They stopped in front of a house, and Mayumi looked back to him as she opened the gate. "Bye, Suga. I won't be able to walk with you guys tomorrow - I have to meet Peinto-sensei to talk about some yearbook pages before seven." she said, and he did not appear to catch that she was lying, for he smiled and nodded.

"Alright, Mayumi. I'll see you tomorrow at school, then." he said, and she nodded in agreement, offering a wave to him to which he returned.

She let the gate swing shut behind her - Sugawara made sure it was closed behind her - and, as she walked up the porch to her door, Sugawara headed to his home beside hers.

* * *

**Ehhhh. Very iffy on this chapter. It started good and then kind of went downhill.**

**But I'm glad I'm getting positive feedback for this! :D**

**akagami hime chan: I know - I'm really surprised there are so few OC stories! She only briefly met the two in this chapter, so it's not really shown how she'll act around them, but it'll show soon! :3 And I haven't really decided who everyone's going to be with, yet - I have some ideas, though nothing's set in stone yet!"**

**callionope: Haha, I'm not sure who she's going to be paired with yet! (And I love Suga with Kiyoko! :D) Mayumi is a second year, though that hasn't been said yet xD Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy it! :D**

**Kunieda: Ah, I'm glad, thank you for reviewing! :D Here's the next chapter! :3**

* * *

The picture had just been finished uploading, the little green bar filled - it was posted by a mayumi_of_the_opera, the hashtags consisting of _volleyball; crows; karasuno; yearbook; black&white. _That photo of the boys' backs, filtered with a black-and-white, had indeed looked as nice as Mayumi had thought it would of - it was a nice way to start off the year, she figured, as she tagged circle_you_circle_you as well as a username of colored_pencils_and_pens.

Just as she exited out of her app, a text message appeared across the top of her phone - _Tanaka._

She rolled her eyes, opening it, leaning back in her chair.

_'hey. be at the gym, seven oclock.'_

She typed back, her gold nails hitting her screen at an annoying tempo.

_'Well, duh, idiot.'_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Haikyuu!.**

* * *

They had been friends since their childhood years - Mayumi's mother had been close to Sugawara's, and, at hearing Sayaka Hayashi's little girl was soon enrolling in the local elementary school, Mama Suga picked up little second-grader Koushi and put him in charge of watching over baby Mayumi.

She was a demon from the beginning, he remembered.

He had to often stay over at the school for an extra hour or two while Mayumi served her after-school detention; it was mostly for drawing on desks and skipping her classes, though he recalled that she had once gotten suspended for punching a boy in her class in his nose for asking if she was dating _'that upperclassman who waited outside their class for her'. _(Looking back on it, Sugawara thought perhaps the boy she'd punched had been Tanaka.)

However, he supposed having this girl as a friend had its perks (though they were few, if he were being honest) - she was scarily good as giving advice, considering her own bad choices, and would often drop everything if it meant the chance to share some of her 'wisdom' - Sugawara recollected the previous year when she'd skipped her last class of yearbook (with Peinto-sensei's blessing, of course) to walk around the school with Sugawara, to discuss the stress of his volleyball club. (_"Pick your head up, Suga!" she had exclaimed, freckled face red and voice breathless, "And you give me that smile of yours right now!"_)

Plus, being editor-in-chief for the yearbook, the volleyball team was a large portion of the sports' pages. (And, of course, no one protested her choices, knowing of their president's fiery temper.)

Here she was, wasting ten years of friendship by _lying _to poor Suga?

_"Boom, boom, boom, clap!"_

Mayumi awoke with a start at her phone's ringtone - she lifted her head, still groggy from her dream, and reached across to her bedside table, yanking it from its charger.

"Hello?" she snapped, and there was a loud scoff on the other end.

"_Excuse me?! Wake up, little demon, you need to be up at the school soon!"_

_"Do not call me a demon, Tanaka!"_

_"There is no reason to yell so early in the morning!" _

"_You _are yelling at _me_!"

Tanaka guffawed at her, his voice booming on the phone. "Whatever, little demon! I will be at your house in a half an hour, be ready!"

"But - that doesn't give me enough time! I still have to put my contacts in-"

"_Ah, ah, ah, _I do not want to hear about _the little piece of plastic you put into your eye_-"

And, with that, he hung up.

She snickered, standing from her bed, tossing back red covers onto the floor, reaching to find her glasses on the table beside her, fitting them on her face, looking down to her phone.

A response from Sugawara from their previous night's conversation - _'Goodnight.' _he had said, and she hesitated, suddenly remembering her dream, and paused for a moment.

She supposed this was not the first time she'd lied to him - no, no, hardly the first, and most surely not the last.

She glanced round her room - the paint was barely visible underneath the many posters and art and photos adorning her walls. Photos spilled over off of a cork board, mostly of her, Kagome, Ayane, and the volleyball club (mainly Sugawara, of course); art from her previous years was hung up, some in frames and some not. Seeing so many eyes staring back at her, she suddenly felt judged, and glanced away, shuffling across the carpet of her room to her dresser, grabbing what she'd need for the day before escaping to the bathroom to get ready.

By the time Tanaka had shown up at her house, pounding on her door and more than likely making her whole street - _Suga, Suga, _she thought breathlessly - aware that he was on her porch.

_"Little demon, we do not have time for this!" _he was crying out as she rushed down her stairs, shoving a folder into her bag of pencils, her winged eyeliner uneven. She blew a kiss to the napping, long-haired cat that was napping on the couch before heading to the shaking front door, shoving it open.

"What're you doing?!" she hissed out, stepping onto the porch, and Tanaka took a step back for her, "Mom is still sleeping, stupid!"

"Well, _maybe_, if you had answered your phone the first six times I called you, this wouldn't of happened!" he snapped back to her as she closed the door behind them.

"I have gotten _zero _calls since the first time we talked this morning!" she barked, pulling her phone from her bag and showing him to prove it.

He snatched her phone from her hand, placing his hand to her head to hold her back when she attempted to grab for it back. "That wouldn't happen if-"

She shoved his hand away from her, jumping to take her phone back. "By the time we get to the school the first-years won't even be there!" she claimed, shoving it back into her bag, and Tanaka growled, however nodding his head, reluctantly agreeing with her.

"_Fine_!" he said, beginning to head down off the porch, Mayumi following after him. "We wouldn't be late if-"

"Oh, my _God_, this is why I walk with Suga every morning instead of you!" she suddenly snapped, wheeling her foot back and delivering a swift, unexpected to the back of his knee - the boy gave a high-pitched cry, collapsing in front of the gate.

_"You little demon!" _Tanaka accused from his spot on the pavement, though all Mayumi did was point and laugh.

* * *

For the majority of the boys practicing, Mayumi sat in the corner: she began by fixing her eyeliner, and, once she deemed it worthy of being seen in public, she played on her phone, until a volleyball sailed across the gym and hit her in her shoulder. Her phone dropped from her hands, and Tanaka pointed and laughed as she had done earlier that morning.

At that, she had stood, scooping up the volleyball and parading towards the laughing boy; she reeled her arm back and chucked the ball to him. It hit him in his shaved head, and he swayed, barely managing to stay on his feet. However, he was still laughing, rubbing his head and breathing out curses in-between.

She turned on her heel, and Hinata shrank back from her, though when she met his eye, he was surprised to see her smiling at him, teasing and joking.

She had gone back to her seat on the floor, adding in her own little comments here and there-

And then the door opened.

_"Morning practice, huh? I knew it."_

She jumped up, just as Tanaka wheeled on her, face accusing.

"Did you tell him?!" he snapped, and she set her shoulders back.

"What?! _No_, of course I didn't tell him!" she snarled, turning to Sugawara in the doorway, clasping her hands together, "Ah, _Suga_, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you!"

He laughed, shaking his head, stepping in and sliding the door shut behind him. "No, no, it's fine!" he assured, "I heard Tanaka this morning on your porch, anyhow. Not to mention how he was acting so weird yesterday." he turned to Tanaka as he sat down, beginning to tug off his shoes to put his others on. "You're always barely on time, but you voluntarily asked to be in charge of opening the lock."

"Oh! - Ah..."

Mayumi faced Tanaka, sticking her tongue out, standing behind Sugawara.

"Don't worry, don't worry! I won't tell Daichi. This is like secret training, or something. It's kind of thrilling."

"Suga, you're such a _nerd_." said Mayumi as she helped the third-year up, though he only laughed in response, turning and clapping his hands together to signal it was time to begin once again.

Mayumi went back to her spot once Sugawara had told her to, paying attention for only a few moments before she went back to her phone, obviously already bored with all this - she was thinking of asking Sugawara if she could leave now when a ball came towards her once again. She saw it out of the corner of her eye, though her reflexes were too slow to make her jump out of the way in time - this time, it hit her in her face.

"... That came straight at you from the front."

"Oh, I'm _fine_, thanks for asking!" she cried out as she sat back up, pulling the ball back up into her lap.

"Tossing and attacking happen only if there's a reception."

_"I don't even know what that means. Why am I still here?" _Mayumi muttered to herself, slowly beginning to stand.

"Which you're too slow to even do, so don't talk cocky. For the three-on-three match this Saturday, I'll make every effort to give Tanaka-san all the tosses."

That dark-haired boy suddenly turned to her, and, regardless of all her complaining, she suddenly froze up, watching as he crossed the gym to head to her.

"Let Tanaka-san do the attacking."

Their eyes met, and Mayumi became aware that her eyeliner must of been messed up when the ball had hit her, and that that was why the boy seemed so fixated on her.

"You do your best not to get in our way."

He reached her and held his hands out expectantly; she cocked her head stupidly, looking down to his hands, before she realized he wanted the ball she still had held in her hands. After a moment of confusion, she thrusted it out to him, and he took it from her without so much of a nod-of-his-head in acknowledgement.

"When I can receive satisfactorily, you'll send me tosses, too?"

She hesitated at this voice, glancing over Kageyama's shoulder to the other first-year, watching him, her eyebrows drawn together.

"I'll toss to anyone who's essential to winning. Right now, I don't think you're essential to winning."

Though she tried to hold it back, Mayumi gave a noise at the back of her throat in surprise at his harsh, blunt words, and briefly wondered if she always sounded so cold as well.

_No, no, not all the time, _said a voice in her head, _Just most of the time._

_Like during finals, _said another.

_Or when the yearbook is about to be published, _said one more.

_Or a few minutes ago, _said herself.

"Nasty!"

At the sight of the first-year's face, she decided perhaps now was time for an attitude change, though she'd seem the same look on many underclassmen faces and told herself that many times, and she knew it was not going to happen.

"What's it take to toss him a few here and there?" questioned Sugawara, and she turned her gaze to him, her brow still furrowed - he caught sight of her gaze and the two exchanged looks.

"It's getting to be that time. We'd better clean up." said Kageyama before she could speak, and Mayumi decided that, _yes, _it was now time for her to leave.

"_Crap - hurry! Erase all the evidence!_" exclaimed Tanaka, and she turned to pick up her bag on the floor.

"Mayumi - help Tanaka get a mop!"

"What?! No, I don't have to clean until after school, Suga!" she announced, though, after a moment, she sighed, dropping her bag, deciding that this was _Suga _asking her, going to get a mop for Tanaka.

As she brought it over to him, she hesitated at the sight of the tiny first-year still standing there, and paused for a moment, looking over at him. She thought of going towards him, and her steps faltered in his direction, before Tanaka's voice calling for her pulled her back to him.

* * *

_"One, two, three, four-"_

_"Five, six, seven, eight."_

"This is bullshit!" exclaimed a voice from the corner of the gym, and it echoed off the walls, "I don't even know what the hell I am doing! _Suga_, am I holding the mop right?!"

"Oh, my God, he has had to of told you twelve times how you're supposed to _mop_, Mayumi!" snapped Tanaka, "We are trying to stretch!"

"You'd think after having to clean the gym all last year, she'd know how to hold a mop." snickered someone, and most of the team laughed, aside from Sugawara, who turned to look at her.

"I told you, Mayumi - move your left hand further up-"

"Ah, don't bother with her, Suga-san!" exclaimed Tanaka, "She is just trying to be difficult and make you do it for her like she always does!"

"_What_?! Suga, he's lying, I wouldn't _use _you like that!"

"Please! Now, you know she would!"

"I am getting real tired of your shit, Tanaka!" snapped Mayumi, dropping the mop and beginning to stomp over towards Tanaka, however she was held back by Daichi, who told her in her ear that he would make Tanaka run an extra lap or two if she'd go back to mopping.

"You can _do that_?!" she exclaimed, imagining herself barking at the members of her art club to run a lap around the school, and Daichi simply patted her head before sending her on her way.

* * *

She stood with Sugawara and Tanaka as they yawned, waiting to go home, and, watching them, she could not help but to yawn as well.

"You guys sound sleepy."

While Tanaka and Sugawara jumped and turned to face their Captain, Mayumi gave a whining sound, knowing this would mean there was a less chance of her going home and a bigger chance at Sugawara staying to talk.

"Oh, y-you think so? Maybe I studied too much."

"M-me, too. I studied..."

_"Nobody will buy that from you!"_

"Ah, yeah, I was with Suga, studying last night!" exclaimed Mayumi from the other side of Sugawara, and he turned to her next.

_"You, either!" _he said, and she gave a sincere, offended noise from her throat.

_"Excuse me."_

Daichi turned from the three of them, smiling. "Hey, you made it. These are the first-year students who'll be joining us. New club members were supposed to be introduced next week, but we're having a match this Satuday. That'll be the true test of your skills."

_"Pleased to meet you."_

Mayumi hesitated, already beginning to pull on a smile to invite them to the art club with, though, and she stepped out from beside Sugawara, she paused.

_"They're so tall, they're like... two Sugas stacked on top of each other." _she said in a side-way whisper to both Tanaka and Sugawara, and, while Tanaka laughed, it was Sugawara's turn to give a sincere, offended noise.

* * *

When Tanaka and Sugawara paused as they were beginning to make their way home, Mayumi bumped into Sugawara's back, too busy looking down to phone to noticed they'd stopped.

_"Sure, let's stop _once again _and talk a little bit more before we get home!" _she exclaimed, walking around to stand beside Tanaka, jumping slightly when a ball sailed past her head, barely grazing her cheek.

"... How much longer are they going to do this?" asked Sugawara, turning to Tanaka, and the boy gave an exasperated noise, raising his hand to rub at his face.

"Ah, who knows? I'm so sleepy I can't stand it. I don't understand how the little demon still manages to complain so much."

Mayumi rolled her eyes, recovering from her initial shock of the ball. "It wasn't even that early. Wusses." she claimed, and Tanaka wheeled on her just as another ball flew past her - she jumped once more, into Tanaka, and he stumbled backwards.

_"Hey, Kageyama!"_

Tanaka pushed her back, giving an annoyed huff, which she gladly returned.

"It's too dark to see clearly. Don't hit it so hard."

Mayumi turned back to the two first-years, watching them with a cock of her head, her eyes trailing over the dark-haired one, watching the way his shoulders heaved with every breath.

_"Sorry."_

Hinata jumped slightly and turned away from Kageyama, heading to go get the ball, though Mayumi was already there, holding it out for him.

He paused, looking up to her and uttering a brief, breathless, _"Thank you," _to her before turning away.

"All right - do that again!" he said to Kageyama, and Mayumi hesitated, resting her hands on her hips, wondering if perhaps it should be her to call an end to this or if Sugawara was.

* * *

Mayumi stood next to Sugawara - it appeared as if perhaps she were doing her best to mimic his stance, her arms crossed over her chest, her bucked teeth lightly biting down on her lower lip. They were only slightly bigger than the rest, and they were not unattractive on her face, Hinata had decided one day previous of this training - they were white and straight, and he thought that there was a certain appeal to them that fit in with her baby-face.

From behind them, the door slid open, though, for once, Mayumi did not falter, keeping her eyes staring ahead, wondering, if she brought in a pad of paper and began sketching out the practicing first-years, if they would be offended.

"How long have they been at it?..." asked Tanaka, walking up from behind them, and Mayumi finally turned away to look across Sugawara at him.

"It's been fifteen minutes since Mayumi and I got here." responded Sugawara for them, glancing at Tanaka only briefly.

"Fifteen minutes straight?!"

Both Mayumi and Sugawara nodded their heads to him.

"_What_?!"

Turning back to the first-years, Mayumi hesitated, wrapping her arms loosely round herself, as if she found the gymnasium particularly chilly this morning. "Shouldn't we stop them, Suga? They're going to hurt themselves, sooner or later." she said, just the slightest bit of sympathy in her voice.

However, Sugawara did not get a chance to reply - Kageyama's hand reeled back and he hit the ball harder than before, Tanaka crying out.

"Wow, bad character! How's he supposed to get that?!"

"Hinata's athleticism has been amazing since junior high." began Sugawara, and Mayumi hesitated when the boy began to move across the gym, and she thought that there was no possible was he was actually thinking of getting the ball. "It's not just that, though. I feel like he has the fortitude to become a winner."

Hinata dived for the ball, and while Sugawara and Tanaka marveled over his ability to save it, Mayumi gave a distressed sound from the back of her throat, looking to Hinata instead of the ball in the air.

She reached out for Sugawara's sleeve, to shake it and ask him if all this was really safe for the first-years, though he brushed her off, not even bothering to look at her - she felt anger swelling in her, though was unable to show it, her attention getting distracted.

_"Kageyama tossed to him!"_

"Hinata is too worn out to spike it, though..." said Tanaka, and Mayumi turned back to the smaller boy, her brow furrowing together as he hauled himself to his feet, and she was suddenly glad she had not gotten Sugawara to intervene as his face brightened up, and he dashed across the gym to hit to ball over the net.

_"He sure can jump..."_

Watching him, she became one to marvel as well, her eyes widening, mascara-clad eyelashes hitting her eyelids.

_"He recovered from being that worn out... And look how happy he is!"_

"I think that meant something special to Hinata. We have the ball tossed by the setter - that's something we take for granted."

_"Hey."_

Mayumi was suddenly smiling as Kageyama walked over to Hinata on the floor, and Sugawara was surprised to see her lips quirked upwards when he glanced her way.

_"We're going to win tomorrow."_

_"O-of course we are!"_

Watching them, she decided that, yes, she was going to begin bringing a pad of paper to these beginning the next week.

Until Hinata began heaving on the floor, and she screamed, yelling at Sugawara that she was not going to clean that up.

* * *

_"So, what do you think about them?"_

Mayumi hesitated, looking to the boy that sat on her couch from the recliner she had her leg propped up in, her hands pausing as they began to rub in lemon-scented lotion.

"... About who?" she asked, though she knew who he was speaking of.

"The first-years." said Sugawara, his hand petting the long-haired cat in his lap, grey hair spreading on his lap from the overweight Maine Coon.

"Ah..." she mused, looking back to her leg, and rubbed in what was left of the lotion before taking a seat in the recliner, sitting down the bottle of lotion on the coffee table in front of them. "Well, they're rowdy, I suppose."

Sugawara gave a soft laugh. "You _suppose_." he said, and she laughed as well.

"Well," Mayumi began to amend, "no, they _are _rowdy. But that's okay. First-years are better that way." she said, moving from the recliner to the couch, beginning to scoop up the large cat from Sugawara's lap - it meowed in objection, and Mayumi rolled her eyes.

"Mr. Jingles, be quiet." she said, sitting the cat back down on her lap, and Mr. Jingles' attempts to escape from her arms back to Sugawara were useless.

"I guess you're right." Sugawara said, beginning to stand, before glancing down at her. "Would you like me to stay a little longer? Your mom's not home yet."

She shook her head, waving that off. "No, no, there's no reason too. She'll be home soon. She normally doesn't stay this late at the museum. They probably needed her for something." she said, standing from the couch to say her goodbyes to Sugawara.

"Alright, then. Call me if you need anything, Mayumi." he said, scratching Mr. Jingles' head before turning to look back down to her.

"Of course, Suga." she said, smiling at him gratefully, and she walked him to the door, putting Mr. Jingles along the way - he scurried back to the couch, jumping back up to it to lay down.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning. Do you want me to call you to make sure you're awake?" he asked her, opening the door and pausing then to look back to her.

"Please. Now, come on, Suga! You're letting in mosquitoes." she said, beginning to swat one away from her arm, and he laughed, nodding.

"Alright, Mayumi. Goodbye." he said, stepping out onto the porch.

"Night." she said back, and they exchanged waves before the door was shut and locked, Sugawara heading back to his house beside hers.

* * *

**I need to start writing notes for this like I did Nostalgia because winging it is not really working~**

**callionope: Haha, I'm glad you like them! :D This didn't really have a lot of the others, but, ah, the next will~! ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Haikyuu!.**

* * *

A blonde girl hid herself behind racks of magazines, the sunglasses - that she had borrowed from a friend - hiding her wandering, chocolate colored eyes. She wore a school sweatshirt that the clerk had seen many times throughout his days working at the Foothill Store, and therefore did not pay the young girl any mind as she rifled through the literature, never knowing how different she was than the other students of Karasuno High School.

Feeling daring, she reached up with one hand and pushed up the sunglasses, her long eyelashes scraping against them, and began fanning herself with a magazine. She glanced over to the clerk once more, her eyes calling for his attentions, though her mouth never moving.

_"Suisen!"_

The magazine fluttered to the ground as the blonde girl gave a yelp, ultimately drawing the man's attention. The girl - Suisen - gripped at the racks, turning to her redheaded friend with a scowl.

"What, Mayumi?" she hissed underneath her breath, not wanting to embarrass herself anymore than she already had, and Mayumi rolled her eyes.

"You told me you'd only be in here for a minute! Come on, the match is about to start, we need to get going already." she grumbled, her voice still rough with sleep as she knelt down to pick up the fallen magazine.

"Just buy some juice already and let's go." she continued as she stood back up straight, beginning to flip through the pages, stopping at the make-up tips towards the back.

"Do you want anything?" Suisen called, halfway across the store.

"Yeah, please. Grab me a bottle of tea." she called back, glancing up to meet the staring eyes of the clerk, the two challenging each other to speak out.

"What kind?"

Mayumi was the one to break the stare, turning back to her magazine. "Peach." she said, closing the pages and shoving them into some random spot on the rack, going to meet her friend at the counter.

"Hey," Mayumi greeted with an inclination of her chin to the cashier, and he responded with one of his own, taking the money the girl had dug out from the bottom of her bag.

"Stop coming in here just to terrorize my store." he told her as she swept up the bottle of tea from the counter, Suisen stepping forward to pay for her juice.

"What're you talking about? I don't just terrorize the store, I buy something." she objected, holding up her tea.

"You come in here, pick up things, put them back where they don't belong, and then buy a tea and then leave. Like a tornado." he said to her, and her left eye twitched.

"I can go somewhere else and buy tea, old man." she said, and the two suddenly glared at each other, eyes narrowed, until Suisen intervened, waving her juice in Mayumi's face.

"Sugawara just texted." she said, and Mayumi turned reluctantly away from the clerk at the mention Sugawara, looking down to Suisen's phone she held out.

"You're lucky that Suga will be mad at me if I'm late, old man!" claimed Mayumi, pointing a challenging finger at the clerk, and he frowned at her as she marched for the door, Suisen waving to him as he left.

* * *

_"I'm back, volleybabes!"_

The doors swung open and what talking that was going on paused, the attention going to the blonde bombshell that had just appeared in the gymnasium.

"Daichi, Daichi, I've missed you so much!" she yelled across the gym to the Captain, and the boy gave a small smile, raising his hand to her.

"I've missed you too, Suisen." he said, and she clapped her hands together, heading towards him.

"Are these some of the first years?" she asked, glancing up to Tsukishima, though she suddenly turned away. "Yes, you seem very scary, and I'm going to avoid you for a little bit." she said, and Yamaguchi began to jump to his friend's protection, though Suisen reached forward, pinching the boy's cheeks.

"Oh, my God, look at how cute you are!" she said, her voice going up several octaves, her tone as if Yamaguchi were one of her puppies. She dropped his cheeks however as she caught sight of other first-years, turning to them.

She pointed to Kageyama, turning to Daichi and saying in a whisper that the whole gym heard, "You have so many scary first-years this year, Daichi!" and another boy laughed, which caused her to glance to him, and suddenly he shrank back.

"Now look at _you_! You're the size of-"

_"Suisen!"_

Tanaka came to the rescue of Hinata; he approached the girl, arms held wide, and she gladly agreed, holding hers open as well and the two embraced.

"Tanaka!" she cried, clinging onto the boy, "I have missed you the most out of all of the volleybabes!"

"Suisen!" he replied, "I'm so glad you're back! Nobody else will harass the little demon with me!"

As the two hugged, their eyes just slightly wet, Hinata cocked his head at the approaching Mayumi.

"Who is she?" he asked, unsure how to react to one of the girl's friends who did not hand out their Instagram username.

"Suisen." Mayumi responded, and, at the look Hinata gave her, she rolled her eyes. "She used to go here last year, but her parents made her transfer schools. It took her awhile to get back in Karasuno, but here she is." she said, unscrewing the top of her bottle of tea as she looked to the younger boy.

"Where's Ayane and Kagome?" called Daichi from across the room, and Mayumi turned towards him, the bottle of tea raised halfway to her lips.

"I told them not to worry about it - it's only a practice match, and we'll have enough pictures from your actual games to fill a whole yearbook." she said, taking a drink to empty the bottle, and she suddenly glanced around.

"Suga!" she called, looking just a little more than lost without the boy beside her, though he responded soon enough to relax her.

"Yes, Mayumi?" he said back to her, beginning to walk towards the girl, and she let out a soft breath that only those around her could hear as she turned towards him.

"Will you throw away my bottle for me?" she asked, and he nodded his head, taking the bottle from her. "Thank you, Suga."

Suisen and Tanaka pulled away from each other with their own loud sniffles, rubbing their eyes, clapping one another roughly on the back.

"Ready to see me kick their ass?" he asked her, and she smiled, nodding her head.

"Of course, Tanaka!"

"Are you gonna bet on me?"

"You bet." she responded, and she rose her voice. "Mayumi, I'm gonna bet on Tanaka's team, alright!"

The girl scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I didn't want his team, anyway. Daichi, I'm betting on you, okay?!"

He smiled and nodded, stepping towards her, and the two shook on that.

* * *

_"He blew that big first-year out of the water!"_

Mayumi gave a loud groan from her seat on the floor, rolling her head to the side to look at Sugawara, calling to him. "Suga, make him put on his shirt!" she snapped, "It was only one point!" she continued, though she turned with a glare to the team she'd bet on.

From the other side of the court, Suisen laughed. "Ahaha! _Mayumi_, I like cookie dough ice cream!" she said, and Mayumi threw up her hands in aggravation.

_"Come on, come on, Daichi! She always gets a triple scoop when she wins and she knows I don't have enough money for that!"_

The whistle blew one they had calmed down, and Suisen was just leaning back on her hands to relax, watching the tiny first-year run across to the ball, and, when he jumped, her eyes went wide, and she turned her head up to watch - she suddenly wished she'd chosen to wear her glasses for the day instead of forgetting them at home, for she was beginning to grow cross-eyed, and, because of that, she was not exactly sure what had happened next, only knowing that, suddenly, the ball was not up in the air, but instead slammed down on the ground.

And, when the sound of the ball slamming down once more repeated itself, the wide-hipped, blonde girl cocked her head in confusion, giving the scoreboard a worried glance.

Mayumi clapped for Daichi, though suddenly went quiet at the conversation on the court; she looked to Suisen across the gym, though she was staring out to the net.

_"What's your problem? You haven't stopped getting in our faces since the other day. What's this 'king's toss'?"_

_"Don't you know why they call him 'king'?"_

Suisen suddenly stood from her seat on the gym floor, brushing her hands along her jeans to clean off imaginary dirt.

_"He's called that because he's so good that guys at other schools are intimidated by him, isn't that it?"_

At the laugh, Suisen gave a breath, straightening out the sweatshirt that she wore, Sugawara's attention being drawn.

_"I'm sure there are others who think that's why. However, his nickname of 'king of the court' was given to him by the guys of Kitagawa Daiichi. By the teammates of the king. What it means is... He's the self-centered king. The oppressive dictator." _

Sensing eyes on her, Suisen glanced towards Sugawara, however looked quickly away, knowing his look was scolding.

_"I heard rumors, but I was convinced when I saw that match. He got too oppressive, and had to sit out on the bench."_

When she was sure Sugawara's eyes were gone, she turned back to the court.

_"He doesn't set up quick hits. Is that because he's lost his nerve from the match?"_

When the boy stayed quiet, Suisen glanced to Tanaka speaking up, and was about to herself when she caught Daichi's words and shrank back.

_"Dude, you've been yammering too much."_

_"He made a toss, but no one jumped-"_

"You are right."

Suisen backpedaled, looking to the '_scary_' first-year, her glance pitying, however no one caught it, and she was glad.

"I made a toss, and no one was there. It's truly frightening."

_"But you were only in junior high, right?"_

Suisen sighed, falling back down onto the gym floor, snapping the ponytail holder she had on her wrist. She had never imagined a sports' club could have so much drama.

_"You toss to me just fine. It makes no difference to me."_

This is why she didn't join clubs.

_"The real problem for me is how I'm going to get past you!"_

At the snickering from Tanaka and Daichi, she allowed a small smile to grace his chubby face as well, though it fell at the _snap _of her hair tie breaking.

_"We'll win against Tsukishima, become official club members, and you will bravely play setter!"_

With no one looking, she threw the broken hair tie off to the side.

_"And you'll toss to me. What else is there?"_

Oh. No. Sugawara saw her out of the corner of his eye, she can feel him looking at her.

_"How pure and straightforward... and irritating."_

First-years were irritating, she thought to herself. So was Sugawara, for making her feel guilty, because now she was going to have to go find the broken thing and throw it away after this match.

When the boys all went back to their positions, Suisen hoisted herself up, trudging off to the corner of the gym to find her hair tie.

Doing so, she almost missed the scene behind her of Kageyama tossing to Hinata, and would have had Hinata's yell not made her jump.

Heading towards Sugawara, Mayumi caught sight of her and too stood, going to meet her at the boy as well.

"Here, stupid." Suisen grumbled, stuffing the broken ponytail holder into Sugawara's outstretched hand, and he smiled, accepting it from her with a nod of his head.

"First-years are so cute." said Suisen, ignoring the confrontation going on on the court. "But I wish I'd of brought a book or something. My phone's already dead."

Mayumi shrugged her shoulders. "I don't have my purse, either-"

_"Clearly, you're not cut out to be a spiker."_

Suisen's ears twitched, and she suddenly swiveled towards the court, though Sugawara caught both her and Mayumi's arms, just as Daichi did to Tanaka.

"He is, however, not a cute first-year." grumbled Suisen, and Mayumi nodded in agreement.

_"That's true."_

Mayumi tugged her arm from Sugawara's grasp with an annoyed sounding huff, crossing her arms over her chest.

_"Even when I was in junior high, I would jump and jump, but I kept getting blocked. Height is needed for volleyball. No matter how high I jump, I can't get past their overwhelming height. But... I know I want to become like that! So I don't care if I'm cut out for it or not. I'm going to do battle with this body, win and win, and be on the court as long as I can!"_

"What a cutie." Suisen mused to Mayumi softly, though her friend paid her no mind.

_"But you don't have what it takes. This isn't a matter of psychology. You can't make up for height with feelings. If you wanted to play libero, it'd be a different matter."_

_"Can I finally say something?" _asked Suisen, swiveling towards Sugawara, and, when he shook his head '_no_', she threw her hands up into the air in aggravation.

_"To break the wall in front of the spiker..."_

Suisen hesitated, turning back around to the court, and Mayumi's arms fell from her chest, her pouting slowly coming to an end.

_"... that's the setter's job."_

Suisen glanced around at the surprised faces of the volleyball players beside her, shrugging her shoulders. "I bet you," she said, "that'd be really cute if I knew what those were."

"Look at your stupid team." Mayumi finally spoke up as Kageyama dragged Hinata away from the net, flipping her hair over her right shoulder. "Making a stupid plan."

"Look at your stupid team." repeated Suisen, sticking her nose up in the air. "_Not _making a stupid plan." She rose her arm up in the air, waving to the other side of the court. "No offense, Daichi!" she called, and the boy waved back in an okay.

Mayumi scoffed. "Let's see whose stupid team is better." she said, and the two high-fived on it before heading to their respected side of the court.

The two girls plopped down, almost in sync, and turned to watch the match - when the ball flew past Hinata's hand, Mayumi clapped her hands over her mouth to muffle her laughter, pointing at Suisen with amused eyes, however, her humor came to an abrupt halt when she caught Sugawara watching Kageyama. She did not even smile when Hinata got himself caught in the net, though Suisen found that quite funny, sputtering and snorting.

_"You've got fast reflexes, so go like 'pah,' like 'gwah'!"  
_

_"Is it 'pah' or 'gwah,' which is it?!"_

_"You just don't get it!"_

_"Kageyame."_

Mayumi suddenly stood when Sugawara stepped forward, watching him pick up the ball before she went to stand a few feet beside the boy, her eyebrows knitted together in what appeared to be worry.

_"You're repeating what you did in junior high."_

When the first-yeah turned towards him and Sugawara hesitated, she stepped towards him, not wanting to look useless on the sidelines, showing him her concerned look.

"Hinata has the reflexes, speed, and the springing power. If he gets used to it, he can do fast attacks."

"But Hinata's weapon, which is his speed... your toss is killing it, don't you think? Hinata has no technique and no experience."

_"S-Sugawara-san!"_

"He's not an outstanding player who can match your ability - but his potential is tops."

_"D-don't call me a genius or anything. That's an exaggeration!"_

_"He never said that."_

"If you can do it..."

Mayumi seemed to sense the approaching change of behavior, for her head turned towards Sugawara, and she held out her hands to him.

_"You need to synch with Hinata's style, or his talent, or... Um!..."_

_"Suga-san, fight!"_

Mayumi grabbed at his arm, shaking him slightly. _"Suga, Suga, you're doing fine!" _she assured him.

_"You know, use them to your advantage. I'm a setter like you. I watched you in last year's match, and I was intimidated. By your extraordinary talent, your ball control, and most of all... by your ability to calmly detect your opponent's movements, and your power to make quick decisions."_

Mayumi hesitated at that, her grip on his arm loosening - this had been a discussion her and Sugawara had shared not long following that match she'd witnessed with them, and she'd thought she'd managed to help him through the doubt he'd experienced at the time.

Though apparently not.

_"I don't have any of those things..."_

"Suga-san, that's not-"

"Tanaka. Listen to what he has to say."

Mayumi turned towards Daichi at hearing his voice, and she too showed him she was troubled by furrowing her brow that not even his reassuring smile could fix.

"You have technique. You have overwhelming drive to win, and you have extraordinary awareness of your surroundings. So there's no way you can't see what your teammate is doing."

Mayumi watched the ball get tossed towards Kageyama, and she forced her eyebrows to straighten, not wanting Sugawara to see she was worried about him.

She watched the boy as his head swiveled towards Hinata, glad that he did not want to argue with Sugawara, for she had not wanted to beat the first-year up.

"I... I envy you athletic reflexes!"

_"Huh?"_

"But you waste your treasure, and that infuriates me."

_"Huh?!"_

From the corner of the gymnasium, Suisen was laughing.

"So I'm going to use all of your abilities."

_"... What?"_

"Use your highest speed. Use your highest jump. I'll bring the ball to you."

_"Bring the ball? What's that mean?"_

"Get to where there's no blocker at your max speed, and jump. Then spike with all you strength. You don't have to watch my toss. You don't have to synch with the ball."

_"What?! But if I don't see the ball, I'll spike at air."_

_"Maybe."_

_"Hey!"_

"But I want to try this."

"... All right."

Suisen began clapping, the sound echoing off the walls. "Yeah, alright! Come on, Team Cookie Dough! I'm not exactly sure what eighty percent of the words you just said meant, but I've got faith in you!" she called as they went back to their positions, and she glanced to Mayumi. "Oh! I'm pretty sure Sugawara just bet on my team, too." she said with a wink, and, in return, Mayumi flipped her friend off as she trudged back to her team.

When the ball flew across the court, Suisen whooped and clapped for them, while Mayumi stared off at the little first-year her ears twitching at Daichi's words.

_"Hinata's eyes were closed just then."_

"Are you kidding me." she deadpanned, her hands shooting up in the air. "Why am I even still here? I might as well just go buy Suisen's ice cream right now." she said, however, when her friend began to stand, Mayumi pointed at her. "No! No! Sit back down! It's not over yet!"

* * *

_"It's decided, it's decided!"_

Suisen was ripped from harassing Mayumi of her team's win at the door sliding open, turning away from her friend at the man in the doorway.

_"The practice match! It's against one of the top four teams in the prefecture. Aoba Josai High School!"_

Mayumi gave a noise, reaching into her pocket for her phone already. "I need to tell Ayane and Kagome." she said, and took a step away from her friend to send them a message, though her thumbs suddenly stopped typing.

_"Kageyama-kun must play setter the entire game."_

Her head snapped up, and she fumbled with her phone in her hands, almost dropping it.

Suisen glanced to her. "Isn't that what Sugawara is, though?..." she asked, and Mayumi slowly nodded her head, shoving her phone into her pocket and stepping towards Tanaka.

_"What's that about? Sounds like they're not interested in Karasuno. They just want to assess Kageyama. Are they underestimating us? Are they?!"_

_"Well, that's not quite how it is..."_

"Sounds good."

"Suga." she said softly, going to his side, though he brushed her off with a small smile.

"We don't get chances like this that often."

"You're going to agree to this?! You're the official setter of Karasuno, Suga-san."

"I want to see how effective Hinata and Kageyama's attack will be against a top four team." he said, though Mayumi still did not appear to be pleased by his answer, frowning up to him.

"Sensei, may we have the details?"

"Sure. Um... the schedule is rather sudden, but it's set for Tuesday next week-"

_"Tuesday?!" _exclaimed Mayumi, distracted from Sugawara for the moment, "T-that doesn't give me enough time! There's cameras that need to be accounted for and pages that need to be numbered off and editors that need to be chosen and outfits that need to be laid out-" she suddenly stopped and mock-fainted, falling back into Kageyama, who, unsure what else to do, caught her in his arms as she fanned herself.

"Don't worry, just keep going." Suisen said, approaching beside Hinata. "Just hold onto her, Kageyan." she instructed, and the boy frowned at the nickname.

"Ah, um... It'll be after classes, so there will only be time for one game. We'll rent the bus after school... Make sure you're not late."

"Yes."

Sugawara helped Mayumi out from Kageyama's arms, and she gave a dramatic hair flip, keeping her hair off her right shoulder.

"What're you going to wear, Mayumi?" asked Suisen, and the girl 'fainted' once more, though this time back into the arms of Sugawara.

* * *

_"Sugawara-san!"_

Hearing that, Mayumi hesitated, glancing over her shoulder, wondering who could be calling for them, considering Suisen went inside the Foothill Store with Mayumi's money to buy her ice cream.

At seeing Kageyama, she fully turned around, opening her mouth to question him, though Sugawara clapped his hand down atop her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, here. Go buy me and you some ice cream, too, alright?" he said, fishing money out of his pocket and dropping it in her hands; she paused, looking up to him.

"... Are you sure?" she asked cautiously, and he smiled reassuringly at her, sending her on her way into the store.

Inside the store, she indeed came in like a tornado, especially with no Sugawara there to clean up the mess she left behind - she picked up magazines, if she even bothered to put them back, they were out of place. Going up to the counter, she bought strawberry bars for both her and Sugawara, ignoring Suisen, who flashed around Mayumi's now empty wallet as Daichi walked in as well

She ripped open her ice cream bar, and was about to toss the wrapper on the ground, however the clerk caught her and snatched it out of her hands.

"I'm worried." she voiced, looking to Daichi, and he nodded his head.

"I know." he said to her, heading to the door. "Don't worry, though. At least not in front of him." he assured softly, and Mayumi sighed, catching up with him and holding the door open for him.

"Here, Suga." she said, stepping towards him, handing the ice cream bar out to him - he smiled, and held out his other hand expectantly, and she gave an over-dramatic sigh, digging into her pocket and giving him his money back.

"Daichi, Daichi, can I get a pork bun, too?" asked Suisen, shoveling ice cream from the tub straight into her mouth, and he nodded, turning from Tanaka to hand her the bag instead.

"Plus, we'll show them that Kageyama's not the only one they need to worry about. Right, Hinata?"

Turning towards the boy, Suisen laughed at seeing he was already eating, about to go through the bag of pork buns herself.

_"Why are you eating first?!"_

_"Hey, volleyball club! Don't make a ruckus in front of the store!"  
_

Mayumi appeared from out behind the boys, pointing her ice cream bar at the clerk. "Ah, ah, don't yell so loud, old man! You'll give yourself a heart attack!" she snapped, and Suisen wove her plastic spoon in the air.

"Stop calling him that! He's like, what, maybe thirty?" she said, turning towards the man with a flattering smile, though he only appeared to be annoyed.

While Daichi moved the two girls back, apologizing for both them and his club, Suisen gladly walked into the Foothill Store when invited, though he promised to kick them out if another mess was left behind by that little demon girl.

* * *

_"Line up!"  
_

"Shit, shit, we're late!"

"This is all your fault, Ayane! You knew you were going to wear that in the beginning, but you still tried on three different shirts before you decided!"

"I _told_ you guy to pick out your outfits before you came to school tomorrow! I _told_ you there would barely be enough time to go home and change, let alone decide what you were going to wear!"

Suisen was the first to show up at the bus, her other friends still huffing and puffing behind her to show up. Next was Mayumi, who threw her bag down to the ground, planted her hands down on her knees, before suddenly fluffing back up, becoming that beaming, cheery girl she had first shown Kageyama and Hinata.

"Hello, hello!" she said, clapping her hands together, combing down the row of first-years, meeting their eyes in turn. "For those of you who don't know, I'm Mayumi Hayashi, and these are-" she swept her arm to the side, though, at noticing her friends had yet to catch up with her, she dropped it. "The girls still running towards the bus are Kagome Wakahisa and Ayane Himura! This girl right here beside me is Suisen Ueda, but she is unimportant at the moment. I'm in charge of the volleyball club's yearbook pages, but Kagome and Ayane will be helping me take pictures a lot, so, _please_, if you see us taking your picture, _do not report us_! Thank you, good luck on your game!" she offered a bow, and Tanaka stepped towards her.

"Hey, hey, little demon, do you have any room to buy some snacks and put them in your bag-"

Her head snapped up, and she glared at him - in turn, he stumbled back, nodding his head.

"Okay, okay, apparently not!"

She seemed to go through a complete transformation, Hinata noticed in his half-asleep state - not only her current attitude, but also her appearance. Her hair seemed much less thick and coarse when it was straightened, and - if he wasn't mistaken - she'd just gotten her hair trimmed a day or two before.

Hinata wondered how exactly she'd managed to hide so much body with her school uniform and the t-shirt she'd worn to the match the other day.

She was curvy and wide-hipped, perhaps even more so than the blonde girl standing beside her. She wore a gold colored cardigan, buttoned up over a red tank-top, and jeans that fit her hips and made the boy stare just for a moment. The black flats she wore were decorated with little gold spikes that seemed - if nothing else - to match her personality.

Her body most definitely did not match up with her round, childlike face.

_"Oh, look - here come the reasons we were late!" _barked Mayumi, her previous mood gone as two other girls came stumbling up, wheezing for breath.

"I-it's not my fault!" said one of them, wearing a navy blue cardigan. "Ayane's the reason!"

"Sure, blame me!" said the one wearing a tan shade of cardigan, and, looking at the four girls, Hinata saw Suisen was the only one not to be wearing a cardigan, and figured this was an art club thing, just like providing your Instagram username as greeting and knitting your eyebrows together.

"I will blame you!" said Kagome, standing up straight, and sucking in a breath. "Were we introduced?"

Mayumi nodded her head, and Kagome sighed.

"That's too bad! I like to introduce myself." she said, and Tanaka came in, swooping up Mayumi's purse off the ground, digging around through it for snacks.

"Give me that!" she snapped, ripping it out from her grip, and Tanaka rolled his eyes.

"You look like a hobbit who carries around a humongous purse the size of her ego." he said, and, from a few feet away, Suisen laughed.

_"Suga!" _Mayumi called, shoving Tanaka out of the way, though the boy seemed to of already gotten on the bus with Daichi, giving her no one to tattle to.

"Suisen, come on, I'm sitting with you!" she said, calling the girl to follow her on the bus, and she nodded, cutting off Tanaka to get on, sitting down closest to the window, while Mayumi sat with her legs in the aisle, Tanaka having to step over them.

"Suga!" she called across the aisle, and Tanaka swiveled to her, partly worried that she was going to tell on him, though all she did was walk across the aisle to him and Daichi. She forced the boy to scoot over slightly, and pulled her phone from her purse, taking a picture with them.

"Are you really going to start this, little demon?!" hissed Tanaka from the back, "Taking pictures with everyone?!"

Mayumi threw her purse at him in response, and he began digging through it for snacks.

* * *

Throughout the whole bus ride, Mayumi took pictures with the volleyball team - mostly with Sugawara and Daichi, for those were the closest to her.

And then, a game was brought up.

"Ah... Truth!"

With her phone still barely clinging to life with only twenty percent of battery left, Mayumi had been bored, though only for a moment, until Suisen brought up the game of Truth or Dare.

Suisen laughed, snorting, and nodded her head, barely giving it two seconds of thought before asking her question. "Which would of the volleybabes would you kiss?" she asked, and Mayumi didn't give her answer much thought, either.

"Suga." she answered, pointing towards the boy, and he sputtered slightly.

"What?! Suga, don't look so embarrassed! I know him the best, so definitely him! Or Daichi!" she protested, leaning over the aisle and nudging Sugawara's leg.

Suisen could barely breathe by now, looking at the face Sugawara was making, and Mayumi swiveled to her, frowning.

"Well, what about you?! Who would you kiss?!"

The laughter came to an abrupt halt, and Suisen thought, standing up on her knees to look at all the boys behind her, each in turn, cocking her head at Tanaka and Hinata, who were talking to each other in the very back.

"Hm... Probably Daichi." she responded, nodding her head in agreement. "Okay, okay. I understand your answer. Sugawara, don't look like that, be flattered!" she laughed, however, her attention was ripped at the screaming in the back.

At seeing the scene, Mayumi stood, regardless of the moving bus.

"A-ah, Kagome, Ayane, get your cameras!" she said, though she had pulled out the closest thing - her phone - and used the remaining twenty percent of battery to take pictures of Tanaka's face, until Sugawara pulled her away.

* * *

**This was so much longer than I expected it to be. But that's okay, because, like, seventy percent is dialogue.**

**yukinataangel: Ah, I'm glad you did! ^^ Here's the next chapter! :D**

**Bergliot: I just read the first chapter of your fic today, and started the second! I've been busy with exams, driver's training, and service hours (oh my) so I haven't read too much Fanfiction in awhile, but I really like your fic! :D I'll review soon! ^^ I'm glad you like the personalities of them! (I also followed you on tumblr, don't worry, it's not weird! xD) **


	5. Chapter 5

**I start driver's training tomorrow, wheee~ (but it's ten to twelve oh god i'll miss the eternal summer premiere)  
**

* * *

"It looks like it's going to rain."

"I'm going to be one pissed bitch if it rains the one day I straighten my hair."

Keys and make-up and bags of Cheez-Its were shoved to the side as Mayumi searched through her zebra striped purse, making a victorious sound from the back of her throat as she pulled a bottle of pills from the very bottom of the bag.

"Ah, here they are! I knew I shoved them in here. Here, little baby, but only take two~" she spoke with her lips puckered to the first-year as she screwed off the child-safe lid for him, dumping two pills in his outstretched palm - her tone reminded those around her of how she talked to Mr. Jingles.

"O-oh, t-thank you, H-Hayashi-senpai..." sputtered out Hinata, his face flushing as he looked down to the white capsules he held, and he turned back to Tanaka as he began to speak.

"Alright, then! We're counting on you for today's match."

Mayumi hesitated, sending a glare Tanaka's way, clapping a protective hand down on the small boy's shoulders.

_"Don't say that!" _she hissed out, though he paid her no mind.

"Do it just like the three-on-three!" he said, smacking Hinata's back, shaking Mayumi's hand off his shoulder. "Let me spike freely like that!"

_"Tanaka! Don't pressure him!"_

_"What? What's that?"_

_"I'll... I'll... I'll do my b-"_

His arms wrapped around his stomach, and Mayumi hesitated, watching him with those coppery eyebrows knitted together.

_"I-I'm going to the bathroom!"_

"Oh!" she called as he raced past her, "Hinata, take those pills! They'll calm your stomach down!"

He waved a hand over his shoulder to show he'd heard her, and she huffed, placing her hands to her hips as Kageyama stood behind her.

"There he goes again. How pathetic! I'm going to knock some courage into him!"

Sugawara jumped out in front of her, wrapping his arms around Kageyama to hold him back. "W-what are you thinking? That kind of thing won't work on Hinata!"

_"But we won't know till we try it!"_

_"Tanaka! Keep this simpleton away from him!"_

_"Right!"_

Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of Daichi still on the bus, Suisen trailing after him, and she smiled reassuringly at him, however he did not seem settled.

* * *

_"I see... I guess since he went to Karasuno, his strength as a player must be a thing of the past."_

Amber color eyes flashed up from the pocketbook she was looking through; black flats clicked to a stop, and round chin shot up in alert.

_"... Besides, all I know about Karasuno is their manager is a beauty."_

_"Are you serious?"_

_"That's right. She's kind of sexy."  
_

She zipped her purse shut, glancing around, and, catching sight of Tanaka, she waved the boy over to her; he cast her a confused look, though, at her flapping, ordering hand, he waltzed over.

_"They have this ginger girl, too, but I don't think she's apart of their team... Nobody's ever seen her play, at least. She's pretty nice looking, but I heard she made another team's setter cry."_

_"What? Really?!"_

Mayumi flipped her hair over her right shoulder, smiling to herself as Tanaka and the remaining first-years approached - that was indeed true, for she'd thought the boy had been giving Sugawara bad looks, and had yelled at him when she saw him in a hallway after the match (Daichi had thrown her over his shoulder and carried her away from the setter, though she was still spitting curses).

_"Really! Oh, yeah, and there's this riffraff kind of guy there, too. He's got a shaved head, and an unpleasant look in his eyes... He looks real stupid."_

Mayumi stifled a laugh as Tanaka's head peeked around the corner, following after the first-years to make herself seen, albeit hidden partially behind Tsukishima.

"U-um..."

_"Don't underestimate us too much-"_

Overhead, a crow cawed, and Mayumi hesitated, glancing skyward, her hand reaching out and grabbing the closest thing towards her - Tsukishima - and almost breaking the fearsome air the boys had created.

_"-or we'll eat you alive."_

As the birds took flight, Mayumi gave a shriek, darting her head down into the back of Tsukishima's jacket - the boy was deterred for only a moment as he turned and shook her off of him with an annoyed grunt, though the boys from another team were not calmed at all by this slight mishap, and, a moment later, Tsukishima had turned away from the girl with a smirk.

_"You shouldn't say things like that, Tanaka-san." _he said with a wave of his hand, and, once the birds were high in the air, Mayumi suddenly recovered from her episode, up-righting herself.

_"Look what you did! You scared the poor elites. Now I feel sorry for them."_

She brushed off Yamaguchi's hand on her shoulder, suddenly aware it was there, though she stuck close to the boy, giving glances to the clouds every few seconds, and her hands were shaking just barely.

_"We're not intimidated!"_

"Oh, you're right... We should save our bullying for the match!"

_"You guys! I can't let you out of my sight!" _

Mayumi jumped at that, turning from the sky to Daichi, her hand reaching out and grabbing onto the sleeve of Yamaguchi's jacket, however, at seeing Sugawara, she dropped the fabric in her hands, darting over to him and grasping onto him instead.

_"We apologize!"_

"O-oh, it's all right."

_"Tanaka, stop that look!"_

Mayumi was muttering softly Sugawara, her hands still clinging onto him as they walked away, and only looked away from him for a moment at hearing a caw echoing above her head.

* * *

_"We will now begin the practice match of Karasuno High School versus Aoba Johsai High School."_

"Hinata looks pretty bad, Mayumi. You should of given him a few more pills." observed Suisen, leaning against the bars overlooking the gymnasium below.

Mayumi scoffed, sliding the new batteries into her camera as she stood, leaving her purse on her seat, heading over to her friends. "I didn't want him all drugged up for the match." she said, raising the camera to take a test picture, looking down at it to make sure it looked presentable.

_"Let's play!"_

Suisen shrugged her shoulders as they lined up below. "Ah, yeah, I guess you're right. He's pretty small, he probably couldn't handle it. "

"Alright, alright!" Mayumi clapped her hands together, the camera shaking from its dangling spot on her wrist. "Come on, boys, come on! Good luck!" she called to her team below, whistling and howling, apparently recovered from her earlier panic attack.

"Maybe it would've been better if he was all drugged up." said Kagome as Hinata dived for Daichi's ball, and Mayumi sighed, running her hands through her straight bangs, brushing them from her face.

"Maybe." she agreed, looking down to the boy.

Ayane and Kagome were there to photo-catch each of Hinata's blunders, however, as the boy stepped up to serve, they dropped their cameras, letting them swing from their wrists.

"Is he okay?..." asked Ayane, and Kagome chuckled.

"He looks like he's going to throw up again." she said, and Suisen waved her hand at the girl.

"No, no, don't say that! That's the last thing we need." she laughed, before they all turned towards the court at the whistle blowing, almost missing the ball getting thrown into the air.

Mayumi's jaw went slack, while Kagome's hands clapped over her mouth to swallow her laughter as the ball hit the back of Kageyama's head.

"Did that just...?" muttered Ayane, and Suisen smiled, resting her chin in her palm.

"Oh my god, poor Kageyan." she said, and, regardless of her smile, her words sounded sincere. "I hope he's not too hard on Hinata."

However, at the laugh that passed through Tanaka's lips, Mayumi and Kagome both allowed their own to come out, Mayumi doubling over in her laughter.

_"O-oh, my God!"_

_"If only we'd gotten a picture of that!"_

_"Imagine that, Kagome! That's how everyone would see the volleyball club!"_

"M-Mayumi! Stop that!" Sugawara called up to the girls, attempting to corral both them and Tanaka and Tsukishima, however both duos continued their howling.

"Oh..." The girls were just beginning to calm down as the first set came to an end, and Mayumi plopped down in a seat, reaching over to dig through her purse.

"Handle this for a little of the second set, girls." she said, pulling the purse into her lap to look for a bag of Cheez-Its, Suisen going to sit beside her, and Kagome and Ayane nodded their heads in response.

They'd finished off one bag, and were working on their second, when those around them were sent into cheers - Kagome dropped her camera, and it would of fallen to the gymnasium below if not for the string, securing it to her wrist.

"What was that?..." she asked, cocking her head slightly, and Ayane answered.

"It was freaky, is what it was. A boy with that short of legs shouldn't be able to move that fast." she responded, taking a photo of the team's huddle, and Kagome snickered.

"Who's tall, blonde, and handsome?" asked Kagome, and Mayumi stood at that, brushing the crumbs from her chest as she approached the girl, looking down to the team, and nodded down to Tsukishima, shoving shoulders with Kageyama as the two blocked.

"Him?" she asked, and cast an incredulous look her friend's way. "Tsukishima." she answered, and Kagome nodded, holding her camera back up in her hand.

"He's adorable." she said as the two boys fought over who'd blocked the ball, zooming into them, smiling to herself. "All of the Karasuno team is adorbs."

Mayumi rolled her eyes, placing her hand to her hips as she turned back down to the court, swinging her camera around her wrist, clapping and sending it shaking as the second set was won.

At the squeals coming from the crowd, Suisen jumped and dropped the bag of Cheez-Its to the floor; she grumbled out a, _'Dammit,' _as she bent over to retrieve it, though her friend's voice made her freeze.

"Suisen."

She hesitated, glancing up. "Mayumi?" she asked, and the redhead motioned for her with her hand.

"Come here."

She nodded, snatching up the bag from the floor before she stood, heading over to stand beside her friend. "Is there something wrong-" she began, following Mayumi's gaze however, and she trailed off.

_"Oikawa, you're back."_

Kagome clapped a hand over her mouth. "Well hello, tall, _dark_, and handsome." she cooed to herself.

_"How's the ankle?"_

_"It's fine! I can get back to regular practice. It was just a slight sprain."_

There was a wolf-whistle, and Suisen looked around for the source - however, there was no need for that, for it was coming from right beside her.

_"What do I have to do to get you on Karasuno's team?!"_

From below, Sugawara blanched, looking upwards towards the four girls who - by some mistake - he had decided to leave alone for the match.

_"Oh, yes, I am calling my mom and switching to __Aoba Johsai_ as soon as possible! Goodbye, Karasuno, you can call me back when you get somebody that looks like that _on your team!"_

The new boy hesitated at that; however, all the same, he turned towards the source of the voice and waved at the redhead; she mock-fainted in response, falling into Suisen's arms, the back of her hand against her forehead.

_"Mayumi! Mayumi, what do you think you're doing?!" _Sugawara hissed up to her, and she waved her hand at him and she recovered from her 'faint'.

"Suga, Suga, not now!" she called down to him, frowning. "He'll think we're together, if you talk to me! _You _are the reason I do not have a boyfriend!" she claimed, pointing an accusing finger down to him, and the boy appeared just a little more than offended at that.

"Are you sure it's not your terrible personality?..." muttered Suisen, though her friend paid her no mind, watching as the other team's Captain walked away to go practice, her eyes twinkling.

When he came back out onto the court, Mayumi clapped her hands as if this boy were on her team, and Suisen reached over to her, prying her hands apart from each other.

"Let's see who wins, before you decide if you're moving schools." she said, keeping her hands apart, and Mayumi shrugged her shoulders in agreement.

Mayumi watched the ball come straight for Tsukishima, and Kagome snapped a photo as the ball hit his arms, however, the girls scattered as the ball shot up towards them, Mayumi the first to regain herself.

_"Tsukishima!" _she shrieked, pointing her finger down to him, _"What're you-"_

"Hey, hey." Ayane interjected, waving her camera in the air, "Look at this. I got a picture of the ball coming towards us before we moved." she said, handing the camera to Mayumi, and the girl marveled, nodding her head.

_"That actually looks really cool! Hm... It's a little blurry, though. Tsukki, try to do that again!"_

"W-what?! No, Tsukishima, don't do that again!" Suisen called back down to him, shaking her head with a laugh as she ventured back to her friends.

Kagome was the last to come back, clapping her hands together. "Don't mind, Tsukishima!" she called in encouragement, though he barely even cast her a glance, and she made a noise. _"Well, then."_

"Come on, boys, come on!" came Suisen's voice, looking down to them. "Don't worry, don't worry! It was just a point!"

And then there was another.

Suisen's hand went to her chest. "Volleyball games stress me out." she laughed, "Ah, it's going to give me an ulcer."

She glanced to her friend, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the last few minutes. She reached out, clapping her on her back, and Mayumi started, giving a glance to Suisen.

"You're still in Karasuno." repeated Suisen, smiling, and Mayumi gave a laugh, nodding her head.

"Hey, hey! You're still winning, boys! Don't worry yet!" she called down to them as they switched their positions, and, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Sugawara giving her an approving glance.

"Oh - he hit it!"

Kagome clapped her hands together, letting the camera drop, Suisen leaning over the bars as the ball was hit back up into the air by Oikawa.

_"Come on, Hinata!" _she repeated, and suddenly she was almost halfway over the bars, Mayumi turning briefly from the court to grab hold of her friend's jacket and attempt to haul her back up.

The ball whizzed past Oikawa's head, and suddenly the gym went quiet, even Suisen, who was dangerously close to falling.

And then there was a clamor of cheers.

"Did they just... win?" asked Ayane, and Kagome shrugged her shoulders.

"Dunno. I think so. How many points do you need to win?" she asked in response, moving to help Mayumi pull up Suisen.

"They won! My volleybabes won!" cried Suisen, clapping for the team as they lined up in front of Takeda, watching as Mayumi took a picture of them. Her hand slapped down on Mayumi's shoulder, and the camera shook from her hold.

"Looks like you're staying in Karasuno." she said, and Mayumi gave an over-dramatic cry.

* * *

_"Hey."_

At the voice, Mayumi hesitated, glancing up; she suddenly went red, yanking away from the garbage can, attempting to pretend she hadn't just been dumping endless empty Cheez-It bags into the trash.

"H-hello, there." she said, suddenly not as confident without a friend beside her.

"Can I ask your name?"

_You can ask me anything you'd like._

"U-um, yeah. I'm Mayumi Hayashi. Who... Who're you?" she asked, cocking her head up to him, tucking a bang behind her ear when it fell into her eyes.

"Tooru Oikawa." he responded, and there was that smile, and she felt her whole body go red. "Your name means bow, am I correct? That's pretty."

She almost fainted against the vending machine to her right, though managed to stay standing. "It has..." she swallowed, attempting to regain herself some. "It has a lot of different meanings."

He nodded his head down to her. "Like _'truth', _or _'beauty'._"

Mayumi couldn't help herself - her purse fell from her shaking hands to the ground, and she jumped slightly in shock, looking down to it. After a moment of her staring dumbly, Oikawa went to the ground, collecting the pencils and pill bottles and make-up that fell from it.

"O-oh." she sputtered, shaking her head, "You don't need to do that." she assured, though she did not kneel down to help him, watching as he stood, a blue color pencil in hand, as well as a bottle of lotion.

She hesitated, reaching for her purse back, watching him scribble something down before he dropped both back into her purse, handing it to her.

When Mayumi looked expectantly up to him, she received a wink in reply that made her lean against the vending machine.

"My phone number." he responded, walking right on past her at that, and she was left to her stuttering in an attempt to make a coherent comment.

* * *

It had taken her a few minutes more than the rest to make her way to the bus - she had told Sugawara she had to run to the bathroom, and had darted for it before he could ask her if something was the matter. She splashed water on her face the majority of her time, taking caution to avoid her eyes, attempting to pale her face once more, though her skin was still blotchy when she returned to her seat beside Suisen.

"Hey, are you alright-"

"I'm fine, Suga!" she claimed, turning towards the boy with a smile, though her response was much faster and clipped than he would of preferred it to be, and he watched her out of the corner of his eyes the ride home.

"Yamaguchi!"

Sugawara hesitated at hearing her voice, turning fully away from Kagome and Ayane - who were showing them the photos they'd taken throughout the course of the match - to watch her stand from her seat, going to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi's behind her.

"Let's take a picture, come on. We're twins."

At his cocked head and confused look, Mayumi elaborated, reaching across Tsukishima to point to his cheeks.

"We both have skin stars."

"Don't call them that." said Tsukishima, glancing to her arm centimeters away from his nose, his eyes narrowed. "They're called freckles."

"I do not remember ever asking for your sass." she responded, retracting her arm. "Now, Tsukishima, do you want me to sit in your lap?"

He looked up to her through narrowed eyes, and responded through gritted teeth: _"Not particularly."_

"Then I suggest you move the fuck over."

For a few moments, Sugawara allowed himself to relax and turned his attention completely towards Kagome and Ayane as Mayumi slid across Tsukishima, squeezed between him and Yamaguchi, her legs still in the blonde boy's lap, thinking that, perhaps, he'd overreacted, and that she was perfectly fine.

* * *

_"But I gotta say... Laid-Back sure has an amazing serve."_

Kagome and Ayane had already headed the opposite way to their homes, while Suisen had jogged up ahead of them, saying she needed to finish her work-out for the day.

Mayumi hesitated at that, glancing over her shoulder at Tanaka, though did not speak up from her spot beside Sugawara.

_"We would've been in trouble if he'd played from the start. He's Kageyama's junior high senpai, after all... Ah, wait a second. Why are you at Karasuno, Kageyama?"_

She was forced to stop when Sugawara did, and, though she gave a noise of objection from the back of her throat, he did not begin walking once again.

_"The strongest school in the prefecture is Shiratorizawa."_

_"Shiratori?"_

_"Shiritorizawa. They're top in the prefecture. They're a powerhouse school ranked among the top eight in the country."_

_"I didn't make Shiratorizawa."_

_"Whaattt?!"_

Seeing shadows stretched across the sidewalk, Mayumi hesitated, glancing up at seeing Yamaguchi and Tsukishima walked towards them. She reached her hand out, grazing Sugawara's back, and he glanced back at her.

"I'm gonna walk up ahead a little with them, alright? I'll meet you at the house or something." she said, and he paused, looking from her to the two boys approaching closer, before back to her.

"Are you sure?" he asked her, and, when she nodded his head, the thoughts that she was alright diminished. "Are you alright?" he asked her, "Do you feel fine?"

She paused, though it as only for a brief moment, that only Sugawara would of noticed, and he did. "I'm fine. My stomach just hurts a little." she said, and he was going to offer her perhaps his jacket or his sweater in his bag, though she was already turning on her heel, rushing to catch up with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.

"Hey, losers." she called after them, "Wait up." she said, and Tsukishima scoffed at her, looking over his shoulder.

"Walk faster." he said, and she frowned.

"Well, I'm sorry my legs aren't as freakishly long as yours and don't make as big as strides." she said, putting a little bit more than the needed amount of explaining into that, though it seemed to work, for Tsukishima paused, Yamaguchi following suit.

"Bye, Mayumi." called Sugawara behind her, and she lifted her hand, waving to him without glancing back.

"Bye, Suga." she called back as Tsukishima and Yamaguchi closed in around her, and the feeling of guilt grew in her stomach, unsure why it was there in the first place.

* * *

She'd cleaned out some of her purse once she'd gotten home - she'd ended up just walking the whole way with the first-years, sending a text to Sugawara to warn him she would see him the next morning, and he responded quickly, telling her goodnight and to feel better.

Setting up the bottle of strawberry scented lotion on her vanity, she sat down on the edge of her bed, wearing a shirt that might be Sugawara's, or perhaps Suisen's - it was one that had randomly shown up in her load of laundry, as most of her sleeping wardrobe consisted of.

She had turned the bottle so the label faced towards her, and squinted her eyes behind her glasses to see the numbers scribbled across the photo of a strawberry. She crossed her legs underneath her, and gave a hasty glance to her window - if Sugawara was home, he could see her light was on, and that she was still awake, and that would risk him either coming over or calling and asking if she were feeling fine once again, and she was unsure if she could deal with that.

After a moment, she reached into her purse beside her before pushing it to the floor beside her bed, producing a gum wrapper. Wadding it up in her hand, she pulled her hand back and flicked it towards the almost empty bottle ot lotion, watching it spin on its bottom before falling over, rolling off her vanity and to the floor.

Hearing it clatter, she crawled up to the head of her bed, flinging off her glasses and reaching over, flipping off the lamp on her nightstand.

* * *

**shit i wasn't supposed to stay up until three in the morning but i did.**

**callionope: Uwah, thank you! ^^ I'm glad you liked that line, because I actually typed it a few times and then backspaced a few times before deciding just to leave it in XD I'm glad to have tumblr buddies! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Haikyuu!.**

* * *

_"Hey, Noya-san!"_

Grumbles about the water-filled bucket suddenly stopped; she glanced up, over Sugawara's shoulder, and, expecting this, the boy held out his hands, and she shoved the cleaning supplies into them, brushing her bangs back behind her ear.

_"Hey, Ryu!"_

She pushed through Tanaka - who moved out of her way with a mutter of, _"Little demon." _- to get to the black-haired boy; they clasped hands, and, from behind Sugawara, Suisen sputtered.

_"The delinquents are reunited." _she muttered to Sugawara, and he chuckled in response.

"Have you already gotten yourself into trouble, Mayumi-chan?!" he asked, glancing over her at the mop in Sugawara's hands, and she let go of one of his hands briefly to wave the question away.

"It was Kagome!" she objected, and the two shared a snicker of, _'Fucking Kagome!'._

"Let me introduce you." said Daichi, and Mayumi glanced towards the first-years as if she had just became aware of their presence.

"This is Nishinoya, second-year."

He dropped only one of her hands, raising it to wave to Hinata and Kageyama. "Hi. You guys are first-years, huh? You, the guy doing serves - the tall guy with the nasty glare! What junior high are you from?"

Suisen laughed at that, placing a hand to her hip, the other reaching out to take the mop from Sugawara. "Don't be too offended, Noya. Kageyan gives everyone that look." she assured him, and that glare was briefly sent her way, so quick that she didn't notice it.

"... Kitagawa Daiichi." he responded, turning back to Nishinoya just as Suisen turned towards Kageyama.

His hand still holding onto Mayumi's let go, and he jumped forth towards the first-year. "Really?! That's a power school. No wonder you serve like that! We played against you guys and lost 2 to 1. Your serve was amazing then, too."

"Remember when we missed him?" asked Suisen to Sugawara and Daichi, smiling, while Mayumi clasped her hands together as she watched Nishinoya speak.

"_He's noisy as ever_." they replied, and she rolled her eyes, laughing in agreement.

_"What junior high were you at, Nishinoya-san?"_

_"Chidoriyama!" _he said, accentuated with a fist in the air, which Mayumi mimicked from behind him.

_"That's a power school."_

_"Why did you come to Karasuno? Because you heard Coach Ukai was coming back?"_

Suisen hesitated and blinked, glancing to Sugawara and Daichi beside her, though, after a moment of internal battle, she slowly turned back.

_"No... I came to Karasuno because... Because I like the girl's uniform. Intensely. And the girls have lived up to my expectations! Mayumi-chan, Suisen-chan, show them!"_

Suisen was broken from her thoughts, jumping slightly at the hand on her wrist, though, glancing down, she recognized it as Mayumi's, and allowed herself to be pulled in front of the first-years. She glanced over to her friend, and, at seeing her hand going to her popped out hip and other pulling at her skirt lightly, she turned back to the two younger boys - though this seemed to have worked, Hinata's face flushing a dark red, while Kageyama had just the smallest bit of pink to his cheeks.

She pointed with the broom and laughed. "Kageyan, look at your face!" she said, though Sugawara swooped in, taking the broom back from her.

"That's enough, that's enough." he said, though Suisen was still sputtering.

"Ah, ah, that's not all! I also came because the boy's uniform was black!" he said, and Mayumi turned away from Sugawara, clapping as he pulled on the blazer, though she sent a frown Tanaka's way.

_"I wore a blazer in junior high, so I admired this uniform. It's not brown or grey, but black!"_

_"I know what you mean!"_

"Karasuno has black uniforms, and the girl's uniform is cute. The school's close to home. It was a no-brainer."

The door slid open, and they all turned to look - Suisen rose her hand to wave a hello to Kiyoko, though was cut off by Nishinoya dashing past her.

_"Kiyoko-san, I've come to see you!"_

_"He's like a hurricane, as usual."_

Suisen laughed, handing the mop to Mayumi, and, after a moment of her pushing it into the girl's stomach, she reluctantly took it. "That explains why he and Mayumi get along so well." she said, and, while Mayumi did not find this particularly funny, the others did.

"Ah... Though he may get loud, he's surprisingly quiet when in a game." said Daichi to the first-years, and Suisen turned towards Sugawara.

"Don't you wish Mayumi got quiet when she painted, Sugawara?" she taunted, and he chuckled, glancing to the redhead as she snatched the water bucket from his hands.

Suisen hesitated, and she exchanged a brief glance with Sugawara before Nishinoya drew their attention once more.

_"And? Where's Asahi-san? Did he come back?"_ he said, and suddenly Mayumi didn't have as tight of a grip as needed on the bucket, though Suisen was there to make sure she didn't drop it.

_"... No."  
_

Mayumi glanced up to Sugawara, her brow furrowed, though not in frustration as before.

_"That wimp!"_

Suisen backed away from Mayumi and towards the first-years, standing in front of them, as if she were going to block the scene from their view.

_"Hey, Noya! Don__'t talk like that about your senpai!"  
_

_"Shut up! A wimp is a wimp. If Asahi-san's not coming back, neither am I."_

_"Hey, Noya!"_

* * *

"Hey, are you mad at Sugawara?"

Mayumi blinked, and she looked up from Nishinoya attempting to teach the first-years, leaning her elbow onto her bag.

"Why would I be mad at Suga?" she asked, and Suisen shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Ah, I don't know. You just seem like you are. He told me you two didn't walk to school together this morning." remarked Suisen, and Mayumi paused, her eyes perhaps narrowing even further at hearing that.

"Hey, hey." she said suddenly, drawing the blonde's attention, who turned away from the practicing boys. "I'm not mad at him. He worries too much, I swear. You remember that boy, who came in halfway through the game yesterday?"

Suisen paused for a moment, then recoiled slightly, furrowing her brow, a trait she'd accidentally picked up. "Ah, the one you whistled at. Yes, Mayumi, I remember, because it was very embarrassing."

Mayumi shoved Suisen's shoulder with her own, and she swayed slightly in her sitting position. "He ran into me after the match when I went to go throw away some trash in my purse. He wrote his number down on a bottle of lotion." she said, watching the boys out of the corner of her eye, making sure none came in earshot.

Suisen hesitated, and then nodded, turning back to the first-years. "Ah, that's cute. Are you going to text him? Ah, wait... I don't see what this has to do with Sugawara, though."

Mayumi suddenly gave a loud whine that echoed off the gymnasium's walls - it drew eyes, though, once they saw the source of the noise was hers, they glanced away at the glare she sent them. "It shouldn't have anything to do with him, should it? But he's always, _'No, no, Mayumi, you don't want to date that boy, he's in my history class, he's not very nice,' _or, _'No, no, Mayumi, you can do better than that boy,'_-"

Suisen interrupted her with a guffaw, "Oh, _Sugamama_!" she exclaimed, and the boy's eyes were drawn briefly, however she waved them off.

"No, don't laugh about this!" protested Mayumi, turning towards Suisen, her voice a low hiss, "I'm afraid if we walk together, it'll only take one look into my eyes, and then he'll be like, _'No, no, Mayumi! Definitely not that boy!'_."

Suisen sputtered, holding her hand over her mouth to muffle it. "It sounds like," she said, swallowing her giggles, "Sugawara gets jealous easily."

Mayumi rolled her eyes, swatting away the finger Suisen pointed at her. "Shut up, stupid. That's not what it is. You know that." she said, and suddenly the humor left the blonde girl, who turned to Mayumi, tucking her skirt underneath her as she scooted towards her.

"Are you going to walk home with Sugawara, though?" she asked, and Mayumi leaned away, turning her head the opposite way.

Mayumi opened her mouth to reply, taking a breath, however, the door shot open, and her answer was cut short.

"Ma_yuMI_!"

The two girls jumped, and heads shot to the open door - a boy stomped through, ignoring the hands raised in welcoming.

_"Hey, Yoshiki-san."_

He briefly waved back, with mutter of, _"Hi, bye." _as he headed over to the girls, and Mayumi glanced around; at seeing no Sugawara there in front of her, she clapped her hands over her eyes, as if she could hide by this.

The first-years glanced away, distracted from Nishinoya from this blond-haired boy; if they could not figure out what club he was in by the over-sized cardigan he wore, they most likely could by his thin, golden eyebrows, which were furrowed together in obvious frustration.

"Don't _ignore me_!" he spat out, going over to Mayumi; he snatched up her hands, and she cried out as she was shook.

"Don't touch me!" she said back, yanking her hands away and swatting at the boy - the square rimmed glasses he wore were pulled from his eyes in the midst of it, dangling from his ears, and he pulled away from her with an almost-roaring sound.

He up-righted himself, pulling the red frames from his face, adjusting them. "_You_," he began, "do not have the authority to give me _any _kind of orders! Lazy ass!" he growled, and suddenly she was standing on her toes, attempting to stand eye-to-eye to him, however he, as they suddenly realized, was _gigantic._

He absolutely towered over Mayumi, and perhaps even beat Tsukishima by a centimeter or two; he was slender however, though had long limbs, as seen when he reached out and shoved his palm against the redhead's forehead.

"Who do you think you're talking to?!" she snapped, grabbing hold of his skinny wrist and attempting to move it away, however it did no good.

"I think I am talking to the editor-in-chief for the yearbook!" he spat back, ignoring the loud groans she was making as she continued to strive with his wrist. "But I'm not all that sure, considering _editor-in-chiefs _shouldn't pawn all of their work off onto Kagome and Ayane!"

She began scratching at the cotton of his cardigan. "So I could sit down and eat-"

"_No, no_!" he said to her in a scolding tone, snapping his fingers with his other hand. "Not just so you could eat! I _also _heard that you _got some boy's number_?! You don't go to their volleyball matches so you can get _hit on_, Mayumi!"

Her hands fell from his wrist, going to her hips. "You sound like my _mother_! You need to stop eavesdropping on my conversations!" she spat up to him, though he was not deterred.

"I didn't really think much of it, until I went to check on the photos earlier this night and _you don't have them all edited yet_! If I remember correctly, you aren't ready for next month's gallery, either-"

"Jesus, Yoshiki! The yearbook isn't close to being done-"

"But you're going to fall behind-"

"There is a reason you are the _Vice President_, and I am the _President_!"

Yoshiki briefly hesitated, and his push on her forehead lightened up just barely. "I-" he began, and began pushing once more, with so much more force that she stumbled back from him and onto her bottom, "I am _Vice President _because they needed someone who could actually handle you to watch over you!"

"You aren't handling me very well, now are you!"

"_No_, I'm not, you little delinquent-"

_"Oh!" _she laughed from her spot on the floor, "You want to talk about _delinquents_, do you?!"

Sugawara pushed his way in-between the two of them, leaning down to help Mayumi stand. "Now, now," he said, and Mayumi rolled her eyes, nevertheless muttering a, _'Thank you,' _once she was standing. "How about you introduce yourself to the first-years, Yoshiki-san?"

Mayumi hesitated at that, ducking underneath Sugawara's arm, and holding her hand out to him. "This-" she began, and Yoshiki slapped her hand away.

_"I can introduce myself!" _he hissed to her, and she held her red, injured hand to her chest.

"THIS," she began, so loud it echoed off the walls, "IS YOSHIKI SUZUMIYA-"

_"Stop it!" _Yoshiki protested, turning towards the first-years as well. His voice also rose, and the two were now in a screaming match, seeing who could out-yell the other. "I'M YOSHIKI SUZUMIYA, AND I'M-"

"_AND HE'S_-"

"THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE ART CLUB-"

_"Take off your glasses, you look like a nerd." _Mayumi said to him, and the boy sputtered, flicking his glasses off. "AND ALSO SECOND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FOR THE YEARBOOK-"

"S-SO, IF YOU SEE ME-"

"SO, IF YOU SEE _HIM_ TAKING PICTURES OF YOU-"

"PLEASE DO NOT REPORT ME-"

"PLEASE DO NOT REPORT HIM. PLEASE DO NOT REPORT _HIM_."

The two swiveled away from the younger boys, turning to glare at each other, until this too was broken apart by Sugawara.

"Ugh, you're so _obnoxious_-" began Yoshiki, and Mayumi gave a bark of laughter.

"Because you're just a bundle of sunshine, aren't you!"

"This is why first-years don't want to join the art club." said Suisen, though the two bickering paid her no mind.

"Compared to you, I'd like to say I am!" he countered, going to pick up the glasses he'd thrown across the gym.

Mayumi snorted, watching him. "I don't know who told you that, but they _lied_!" she said to him, and he gave an offended sound from the back of his throat.

"_Why_, you little _demon_!" he growled, reaching for her, though Sugawara stood in his way once more.

"Alright, alright." he said, looking to Mayumi, who crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from him. "Stop acting like that, you two. Mayumi, go get all your stuff together, so you're ready to leave, alright?"

This seemed to draw the girl's attention, for her head turned back to his just slightly. "... Will that be soon?" she asked, and, when he nodded, she glanced back at him.

"Fine." she agreed, heading back to her and Suisen's bag, and, when she did, Suisen stepped forward, placing her hand onto Yoshiki's shoulder.

"I apologize for him, volleybabes!" she said, looking to the boys, smiling, and Yoshiki frowned, attempting to brush her hand off.

_"Don't apologize for me!" _he hissed, though her grip on him only tightened, his protests fizzling down into whimpers.

"We don't let him out of his cage often, so he gets rather _excited _when he manages to run around for a few hours. Say you're sorry, Yoshiki." she said, glancing up to him, and, even through his cringe, he managed a scowl.

"I am _not _apologizing-"

Yoshiki suddenly crumpled over in pain, before slowly standing once more, attempting to steel himself.

_"Yoshiki-"_

"Fine, fine, _fine_! I'm _sorry_, volleyball club!" he spat out, and, those his tone was not sincere, this seemed to settle Suisen.

"Good job, Yoshiki!" she said, her voice a mocking praise, and he growled in response underneath his breath. "Say goodbye, too. Me and you are going to go running together."

The boy recoiled, his eyes going wide behind his glasses, and he vigorously shook his head. "_What_? No, I don't want to go running with you-"

"_Say goodbye, Yoshiki!_" she snapped, and the members of the volleyball team shrank away from her ringing voice.

Yoshiki jumped, and he turned towards them, bowing over in both pain and farewell. "_G-goodbye, v-volleyball club!"_

Suisen glanced over her shoulder, waving to Mayumi, before she began to yank Yoshiki towards the door - the team parted and made way for her, saying their own goodbyes, muttering good lucks to the boy as he passed.

_"Owowowowowow! Stop that, Suisen, it hurts!"_

* * *

Mayumi was surprised that there had not been a, _'No, no, Mayumi! Definitely not that boy!'_ following their departure from the gymnasium. However, glancing to the boy walking beside her, she could tell something was amiss, and, aside from her muttering, _'Sorry,' _when she'd accidentally bump into him, and him responding, _'Oh? It's fine,' _not many words were spoken.

Standing at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to blink and designate them to walk, Mayumi pulled her bag from her shoulder, unzipping it and digging through pencils and books in an attempt to find her headphones. Finally finding them, she yanked them out, beginning to work to undo the knotted mess when she heard a mutter.

She hesitated, glancing over to Sugawara, swaying towards him and bumping her hip with his; he jumped slightly, looking towards her, waiting for the, _'Sorry,' _he expected her to say.

"Did you say something, Suga?" she asked, and he paused, before shaking his head with a soft laugh.

"Oh - no, Mayumi. Just talking to myself." he replied, and she opened her mouth to ask him what about, when the light above switched on. Sugawara began walking, and she shuffled to catch up to him, still working with her headphones.

* * *

_"Let me introduce you."_

Mayumi hesitated at hearing Takeda words; she glanced up from her mopping to the door as he stepped in, and her eyes grew wide; at the sight of the blond man, she swung the mop in her hands, knocking over the bucket of soapy water at her feet.

_"This is Ukai-kun, who will be our coach, starting today."_

_"You've got to be fucking kidding me." _she breathed out, ignoring the gathering puddle at her feet, loosening her grip on the mop and letting it fall from her hands, bouncing once it had hit to floor.

_"But this is the guy from the Foothill Store! He's really a coach?"_

_"He's senpai to all of you."_

_"Oh hell no." _Mayumi muttered to herself, and she repeated it quietly to herself in a mantra as she went towards her bag, fishing her phone out from a side pocket, unlocking it and pressing it to her ear. She bounced on her heels as she waited for a response, and, finally getting one, she swayed on her heels, almost falling back into the puddle. _"Hey! You have to get back down here and see this! No, no, I don't care, this is important! Hurry!"_

And so, not ten minutes later, Suisen appeared in the doorway of the gymnasium, wearing sweatpants stained with orange juice.

_"Mayumi!" _she panted, glancing around the gym, however her eyes suddenly paused in their search as they rested upon a blond man standing aside the door; her breath caught in her throat and she stared. He hesitated, turning away from the court, looking over to her and staring back. His eyebrows pushed together, and, just as he was about to question her distress, she turned away.

_"Sugawara!" _she called once she'd regained her breath, and he looked to her, "Sugawara, where's Mayumi?"

"She went to the bathroom." he responded, and then paused, turning towards her, "Ah, now that you mention it, she's been gone for awhile. Why? Is everything alright?" he asked, and she took a moment to answer, thinking that over, before slowly shaking her head.

_"Oh, Sugawara!" _she began in a rehearsed, anguished tone, though her skills as an actress were not able to be shown, for she was suddenly shoved out of the doorway.

_"Suisen!" _cried Mayumi, seeing it had been her friend who she'd barreled through. _"Did you see him-"_

_"I see you come in everywhere like a hurricane!"_

Mayumi jumped at the voice; however, she quickly recovered, wheeling around on her heel to face the man, though Suisen hopped in front of her.

_"Oh!" _she began, smiling at the man, wiping at the stain on her thigh. "Hello! I don't think you know my name, even though I come in your store almost every morning. I'm Suisen, and this is-" she directed her hand to the girl behind her, though the redhead turned her face away with a huff. "-... and this is Mayumi. Can I ask what you're doing here?"

"You don't have to be so polite to him, Suisen." muttered Mayumi, crossing her arms over her chest.

"He's the new coach, Suisen-chan." responded Sugawara, and Suisen notably paled, her shoulders going tense.

"So... he'll be... around a lot." she said, watching as a ball rolled to her feet, and she quickly regained herself, about to go retrieve it for Yamaguchi when a shadow caught her eye, and she backed up from the doorway into Mayumi.

"Who are they?..." she muttered, and Mayumi glanced up to them.

"Some people the old man plays volleyball with. There here to practice with Karasuno, or something stupid like that." she grumbled, watching the men walk in out of the corner of her eye, though Suisen moved into her line of vision.

"Like, a match?" she asked, and Mayumi hesitated at that, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'd assume so." she said, and Suisen grinned, nodding her head.

"Do you want to bet on them?" asked Suisen, and Mayumi's eyebrows rose, and she nodded her head after a minute.

"But I get to chose what team I want first! You always chose first!" she said, turning and pointing a finger to the girl, and Suisen laughed, shrugging her shoulders.

"I suppose that's fair." she agreed, and the two shook on it, turning to watch as the teams were separated.

_"Hey, it's Asahi-san!"  
_

Mayumi hesitated at that, giving a mutter of, _'Fuck,' _glancing from Hinata to Sugawara.

"Ah, Hinata, be careful!" called Suisen, going over towards him, hoisting her up on her shoulders; he wobbled, before to steadied himself, calling a thank you down to her.

When Asahi rounded the corner, Mayumi allowed a small smile onto her face, though she quickly wiped it off, making sure Hinata got down from Suisen.

_"Hey, I need to borrow a setter from one of you guys." _

Mayumi blinked, turning away from Suisen at that, cutting their conversation short - she did not know much of volleyball, aside from the fact that Sugawara was a _setter_, and therefore paid more attention to this position than anything else.

_"Is everything alright?..." _muttered Suisen, though Mayumi did not respond to this question, stepping closer to the court as Sugawara stepped away from Kageyama.

_"You're not doing this for me, are you? If you're stepping down so I can step up, I'll refuse."_

Suisen reached out to stop Mayumi from taking another step forward, though she moved out of her grasp. _"Hey, don't talk to Suga like that-" _Mayumi began, though her and Sugawara exchanged brief looks, and everyone was surprised that she backed down at this, stepping back next to Suisen.

_"... Ever since Kageyama joined the team as the official setter, I've been relieved."_

Mayumi began to step forth again, her weight shifting uneasily from foot to foot, though Suisen managed to catch her this time, corralling her back.

_"The setter is the pillar of our team's offense. He must be the toughest of everyone. But I never felt confident about throwing tosses. I've been scared the spikers would repeatedly be blocked because of my tosses."_

Mayumi attempted to squirm free from Suisen's hold, though the grip only tightened on her wrist, and Mayumi had a difficult time not crying out in pain as Yoshiki had a few days prior.

_"So I hid behind Kageyama's overwhelming abilities, and enjoyed the relief."_

Mayumi turned away from both the scene in front of her and her friend beside her, looking to the wall, and she suddenly went limp in Suisen's hold. The blonde hesitated, glancing to her, and her grip loosened, though only barely, in case she were to attempt to wrestle her way free once again.

_"When I think of spikes getting blocked... It still scares me. But... Let me toss to you again, Asahi."_

At feeling the pulse slow down beneath her fingers, Suisen sighed, letting go of the wrist, and Mayumi quickly yanked it away, holding it against her chest and turning back.

_"That's why I'll be on their team, Kageyama."_

Mayumi took in a breath and slowly let it out through her nose, as if her own procedure to calm herself down, and Suisen watched this.

_"I won't let you outplay me."_

"I'm going to take a wild guess," said Suisen, shoving her hands into her pockets, and Mayumi glanced over to her, "and say that you're going to root for the team Sugawara's on."

Mayumi sighed, backing up and slumping against a wall. "I hate when he gets like that." she muttered, eyes still staring to the court. "All talking about how he's not good, and how scared he is about this stuff." However, she pushed off the wall quickly, signaling she wanted this to be the end of the conversation, heading over to the opposite side to the court.

"Alright, Suga! I'm counting on you!" she said, and the boy gave her a thumbs-up.

Suisen clapped her hands together for her team. "Alright, alright, Team Cookie Dough! Let's do this, alright?" she said, though, as she walked along the court to look over her team, she leaned forward onto her toes in an attempt to speak in Tsukishima's ear. _"Go a little easy on them, though, alright? They're old." _she said, and the two blondes exchanged snickers.

* * *

Mayumi clapped for Sugawara, and had remarked, _"Suga's always been awesome, Noya!" _when Nishinoya commented on the boy, before Daichi had almost slipped in the puddle she'd earlier made.

Though both Suisen and Mayumi found this very funny, Daichi had to swallow the yelling beginning to produce in the back of his throat, telling her to go mop this up, and, after weighing her decisions, she decided this was _Daichi _asking her. Unable to think of anything bad he'd done to her in the past month, she figured she could go mop, and went over to clean as Daichi yelled at Tanaka for laughing.

_"Tanaka! Tanaka, don't cry! We don't have time for crying on Team Cookie Dough!"_

Mayumi hesitated at that, glancing up from her mopping; she thought this was a good enough job, and put the mop in the bucket, watching the match from the other side of the court for a moment, however, as she began to head back around, the yell coming from her team's side made her stop beside Suisen, and the blonde girl smiled, crossing her arms over her chest.

_**"Suga!"**_

Suisen chuckled, while Mayumi rolled her eyes, tossing her hair over her right shoulder, however she had a small smile on her face.

_"One more!"_

"I'm glad." said Mayumi, and Suisen nodded in response.

"I am, too - maybe now you won't have to skip your last class to talk to Sugawara. I'm tired of Yoshiki complaining to me - ah, wait, just a second. _Tsuki, Kageyan, stop talking! What do you think this is?! And - Tanaka, I told you to stop crying!"_

"Yoshiki's a dick." responded Mayumi, and Suisen laughed once she thought her team seemed in some sort of order. "I'm President. I'll walk around with whoever I want too. My shit gets done on time." she said, and Suisen muttered, _'Ah, shit,' _when the ball broke through Tsukishima, Tanaka, Kageyama's hands, though she'd expected this, and, if anything, her tone sounded just a little happy.

* * *

_"I fucking hate it when you win." _Suisen muttered to her friend beside her, glancing over to Mayumi, _"You always get that nasty peach ice cream that nobody else likes."_

_"Well, it's a good thing I'll be eating it, and not you."_ said Mayumi, crossing her arms over her chest, going gather up her bag - Suisen followed, saying, _"Yes, but it's still disgusting..."_

Mayumi shrugged her shoulders, bending over and picking up a pencil that had fallen out, pointing it towards Suisen. "You know what's disgusting? Mint ice cream." she stated matter-of-factually, and Suisen sounded rather offended by this.

_"Karasuno, fight!"_

_"Yeah!"_

Suisen snatched the pencil, tossing it somewhere towards a corner of the gym, and, once she'd glanced around and made sure Sugawara had nod seen, she turned back to Mayumi, who slung her bag over her shoulder, watching it hit the wall.

"You can throw pretty far." remarked Mayumi, holding back a snicker, and Suisen rolled her eyes at that with a loud groan.

* * *

_"Suga, Suga, give me some of that."_

Though Sugawara had assured Suisen that he did not need a whole carton of ice cream, Suisen had bought him one regardless, and now he carried a container of strawberry.

The boy nodded his head, and, from up ahead of them, Suisen glanced back over her shoulder, grimacing as she watched. Sugawara dug at the ice cream with his spoon, holding it out for her, and she leaned up, letting him put the plastic spoon in her mouth.

_"Mayumi, let me try that, too." _said Sugawara, and Mayumi nodded, scooping at the peach ice cream she held against her chest, standing on her toes to do the same for him, and Suisen groaned.

_"You two are so sickeningly cute to each other." _she said, and, while Sugawara's face went aflame, Mayumi stomped her feet at her friend, who shoved her headphones back into her ears.

* * *

**It was going good and then I accidentally wrote over like five hundred words and IT ALL WENT DOWNHILL FROM THERE.**

**(I'll reply to reviews next chapter, I need to go do the dishes~)  
**


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